Humans weren't meant to float
by GeekViking86
Summary: Two years after Third Impact the world is repairing, and Shinji is living with his surrogate family in a house by the lakeside. But when Asuka discovers a fear of Shinji's, she's determined to make him overcome it. SxA, various pairings. Epilogue is up
1. Prologue: Hope and Forgiveness

Why do I even bother with a disclaimer? I think Gainax has done a pretty good job showing who owns what (yup, they own Evangelion, not me).

Thank you for taking the time to look at my first ever Eva fic! I got the idea for the story when I was really bored at work, but I liked it so much that I decided I would write it. I'm guessing it will be somewhere around 4 or 5 chapters when it's done, and as a bit of fair warning for people who loathe WAFF, this fic might end up a little Waffy sometimes, but I hope you'll keep an open mind. Also, if this prologue chapter seems a little "been there, done that", please bear with it, because I did not feel like I could write a post-Third Impact story properly without having at least having _something_ covering the time immediately after EoE.

And yes, the title and premise of this fic were inspired by Shinji's monologue from Episode 16. It will be mostly a ShinjixAsuka story, however other pairings will be present as well. Two of my goals are to keep the characters as true to their Anime counterparts as I can, and try not to defy the canon laid down by the show. Now, please sit back and enjoy!

* * *

Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Chapter 1 - Prologue – Hope and forgiveness

_She's alive… I'm alive…I tried to choke her… What was I thinking?_ These thoughts permeated in the mind of the emotionally broken Shinji Ikari, as he hunched over the now conscious body of what seemed to be his only companion in this desolate new world.

_Disgusting…_What did she mean when she said that? From where he was sitting, everything looked disgusting… The blood red sky, the orange lake of LCL, the massive stone figures that were once Evangelions, and then there was the worst of it-- the giant, white face sinking into the orange sea. It had once belonged to his fellow pilot Rei Ayanami, another one of the women he had loved, and wasn't able to protect. From now on, he would be un-able to think of Rei without remembering what she really was, and how painful it would be to accept that.

_No…_ The cynic in his mind told him. The bandaged redhead besides him was probably talking about him. And why wouldn't she think he was disgusting? Why _shouldn't_ she? All of this was his fault, wasn't it? He violated her trust while she was comatose, and then when she needed him the most, he wasn't there. _She died… I let her die…_And the worst of all his sins was what they saw now… Third Impact, and the wounded planet that it had left in it's wake. And after all of this, he tried to choke Asuka, for no reason other than because he was angry, and needed something to remind him that anything was real. He began to sob even more, covering his face in shame, fearing that the girl's opinion of him would now only worsen.

"I _am_ disgusting." He sobbed in agreement through his fingers.

What happened next surprised him though—almost as much as when the girl had reached out to caress his face, even as he throttled her… She sat up, put her arm around his shoulders, and brought him close to her.

_She's so warm… I must be cold right now._ He thought, his cries becoming slower and softer as the two teenagers slowly rocked back and forth.

"It's okay Shinji, I'm not angry at you." Asuka said softly into his ear. He had more or less given up on being surprised for today, and instead allowed her to continue.

"What happens now?" Shinji asked, his voice finally returning to it's normal state.

"We need shelter. This place gives me the creeps!" She huffed, sounding a bit more like the Asuka that Shinji knew. He nodded in agreement as she helped him to his feet. _I feel like such a wimp._ his subconscious complained.

The pair began walking away from the orange sea, not wanting to look back. They didn't really know where they were going, but anything was better than waiting around staring at that massive porcelain face.

* * *

Two days later, Shinji and Asuka were staying in a small log cabin they'd found out in the woods, and judging from what was inside they supposed it might have once been a station for forest rangers. It was well stocked with food, medical supplies, and blankets, but most importantly it was not near that awful pool of LCL and disembodied souls. 

Upon inspecting Asuka's wounds, Shinji discovered that they really weren't anything to worry about. In fact, when the bandages were gone Shinji couldn't even tell if there was a scar or not, which left Asuka feeling relieved. She had suffered wounds much worse during her final battle with SEELE's mass-production Evangelions, and the fact that she was even standing here was probably only because of Instrumentality. Shinji shuddered a bit when he thought of this… Third Impact was a horrible act of destruction, but if it had never happened, Asuka would still be-- dead. _Maybe…Maybe Misato and the others will come back someday, too…_

Asuka found Shinji sitting at the Ranger's desk, fiddling with a knife and a large chunk of wood. It looked like he was carving something, but what it was for she wasn't sure. It looked like it was a small wooden boat, a suspicion that was all but confirmed when she saw two completed vessels laying next to him.

"What are you making?" She knew what he was making, but what she really wanted to know was _why_, and _what for_. Shinji stopped his witling momentarily, and turned the rotating chair to face her. He looked a little confused himself, like he wasn't quite sure how to answer.

"I'm making some little boats to send out on the LCL."

Asuka rolled her eyes. _He's lost it. We're in a post-apocalyptic crap hole and he wants to play with boats?_

"Why would you want to do that? Don't you have something better to do?"

Shinji shook his head a little, and then tried to explain.

"Look, it's just an idea I had. Please try not to make fun of it." He mumbled while picking up an un-lit votive candle from the desk, and doing his best to secure it in one of the boats. Asuka tried her best to do as he said.

"I was thinking we could send some of these out there with candles, and maybe they'll help our friends find their way home. You know, maybe show them that we miss them?"

Asuka almost wanted to laugh, but thankfully her conscience got the better of her. _I had no idea he could be so… Sentimental. _A small but sincere smile found itself sneaking onto Asuka's lips, but she did her best not to make it too obvious.

"Where did you get an idea like that?" asked Asuka.

"I don't know… I think I read something like it in a book once." He almost lost her there, but for some reason Shinji's kind gesture seemed appealing to Asuka. She soon found herself picking up a stray piece of wood, and asking...

"So, do you have another knife?"

* * *

On the fifth day, although they hated the idea of returning to the lake of LCL, the hope that somehow their kind gesture might actually bring back their loved ones was enough to send them back. Carrying around five of the little wooden boats each, along with a box of candles, the Japanese boy and the German girl made their way down the sandy bank until they reached the sickly orange lake, which fortunately now seemed to be free of Rei's haunting face. Whether it had evaporated, melted, or just finally finished sinking to the bottom, they weren't sure. Whatever the case, the place was much less unsetting now that it was gone. 

They had also brought a small bag of dried fish to put on the boats as well, at Asuka's suggestion, oddly enough. _'If we send them some food, they'll know we're going to be hospitable when they come back.'_ had been her words. Shinji knew they would have to go looking for more food later anyway, so he agreed that they could spare a little in this small ceremony.

After placing a candle and piece of fish in each of the boats, Asuka looked at the orange liquid lapping on the sand.

"I think the tide-- if you can call it that-- is going out. Now's as good a time as any." She spoke. Shinji nodded and produced the brass flip-top lighter he found in the ranger's desk from his pocket, and began lighting the candles. Within moments, they were watching their small fleet of lights going out into the body of orange liquid. They both let out a silent sigh as the lights went further and further into the distance.

"Let's go, Asuka. Maybe we can do this again sometime." Said Shinji, feeling his mission had been accomplished, for now at least.

"Yeah…" She quietly replied.

They continued to walk through the sand, once again un-sure of what to do next, other than returning to the cabin, and possibly having another meal of MREs. They were both now looking at the moon above. _The sky doesn't look as red tonight, does it?_

"Stupid red sky. Is it ever going to go away?" Asuka growled, masking a bit of sadness.

"I don't know. I just want to see blue again." Shinji sighed in response. For some reason, saying that compelled him to look at Asuka… Her eyes were still blue, even if the landscape made it easy to forget.

"What are you staring at, dummkopf?" She said, catching him by surprise.

"N-nothing…" He sheepishly mumbled, averting his eyes from hers. _We've still got a ways to go, I guess._

As they reached the edge of the sand, Shinji couldn't help but look back at the orange sea one last time. The boats had all but disappeared over the horizon, but that was not what was catching Shinji's attention. His eyes went wide as he saw something—or someone—sprawled across the sand. It was a person, a person he knew and cared about immensely… She had lavender hair and wore an officers' uniform, and seemed to let out a soft moan of fatigue. Suddenly there was no doubt in Shinji's mind as he ran full sprint through the sand to her side.

"Misato!" He cried as he held her, trying his best to choke back the tears. Suddenly, he found Asuka there too, turning the embrace into a full-on group hug, with one of the participants barely conscious. Before they knew it, tears were welling in all of their eyes, not even caring right now about anything other than being re-united.

"You didn't really think I'd leave you two alone, did you?" The older woman sighed into the space between her and her charges. The two teens choked back a few more tears as they pulled her in even closer.

_She's alive. I couldn't protect her either. But I was able to save her, like I saved Asuka. _Shinji pondered, and was overwhelmed by a warm feeling. A feeling that maybe, perhaps, he would be forgiven-- Not just forgiven by others, but by himself. Soon, his face was overcome by a smile—The first real smile he had made since before Third Impact.

_Forgiveness brings hope. Where there's hope, there's a better tomorrow._

End chapter

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Author's Notes 

So, did Misato choose to appear when and where she did? Did Shinji's idea actually have an effect on her? I'll leave that for you to decide. This chapter was about the events immediately following Third Impact, however I must remind you that this is not going to be a survival story. Remember that this is just the prologue, and that the rest of the story will be a bit different in mood. Expect Chapter 2 to be much lighter, because we're going to be jumping ahead two years, when the world has started to re-build itself. Please drop me a review, because I love feedback, both positive and critical. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this, and God bless. :)

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	2. House by the lake

Disclaimer: because I respect Gainax as the rightful owners of Evangelion and it's characters.

Wow, the prologue chapter is finally out of the way, and I'm on to Chapter 1! Thank you for sticking with me thus far, because this is where the story is really going to be taking shape. I hope I don't disappoint you too much if you were hoping for something along the lines of the first chapter, because as I said before this one is going to be notably lighter, and less apocalyptic. Everyone's already been through hell, so I figured they deserved something a little more normal. That doesn't mean I'm not going to have some fun though. ;)

Thank you very much for showing enough interest to keep reading up to this point, I really appreciate it! Now, without further delay, please enjoy Chaper 1!

* * *

Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Chapter 2 – House by the lake

Two years… It had been two years since Third Impact had been initiated, and almost brought an end to the human race. A massive pool of orange liquid was all that remained of Tokyo 3, but humanity's will to move on and survive proved to be it's greatest strength in those following months.

Within a year, more than two billion people had been found, with more being discovered every day. It was not long before governments were re-built, and the global economy had begun to return. Things were still very rough for the people who lived close to ground zero, with many of Tokyo 3's former residents migrating to New Yokohama and Nagoya. But still, the will to live was very strong, and it wasn't long before most people had returned to a fairly stable lifestyle.

No one liked to talk much about what happened during Third Impact or Instrumentality. The experience was too abstract for many people to put into words, and for others the memory was too painful to want to recollect. It was a big mess, but most people had accepted it and moved on, while others had simply chose ignorance.

On the one-year anniversary Third Impact, after the first actual cold winter since the year 2000, thousands of people visited the lake of LCL to pay there respects to the lives lost, and to the living who had not yet returned, or had chosen not to. Following the example of Shinji Ikari, they would send out small boats carrying candles, in hopes that they would return. A massive wall had also been put up, where visitors could place pictures of the missing as an act of respect and remembrance.

Now, on the second year anniversary, even more visitors had come to the remains of Tokyo 3, many of whom were from other countries. Shinji had never been officially recognized as the originator of the tradition, but for some reason, he didn't mind. Seeing that his idea had given hope to so many people felt satisfying enough, even if he didn't get credit for it.

Most of his friends had returned from the orange sea, but he still felt compelled to return this year. Although the LCL retained it's sickly orange hue from two years ago, the oppressive red haze that once covered the entire Kanto region had dispersed and disappeared what seemed like ages ago. The massive stone Eva units still stood their vigil of the lake as they had two years ago, but now they were much more visible since the pool of souls had significantly decreased in size and depth.

After walking to the edge of the shore, Shinji placed the little boat he had brought in the water, and lit the candle. He sat there for a moment, as he watched the boat head out to join the others that had already been sent by others.

"Shinji, are you ready?" asked Misato from behind.

"Yeah, let's go." He answered, feeling satisfied. He stood up, and Misato wrapped an arm around his shoulder as the two walked up the sandy bank back to where Misato had parked. Just as they were reaching the edge of the sand, Misato leaned in and planted a warm kiss on Shinji's forehead, which was much higher up than it was two years ago.

"Thank you, Shinji." Was all she said, and the rest of the trip was silent.

* * *

The new home of Misato and her two 16-year-old charges was a modestly sized four-bedroom lakeside house, not far form New Yokohama. It was a little expensive considering that it was in need of some repairs, but it hadn't taken the three long to fall in love with it, and it hadn't even been eight months since they moved in. Besides, Misato's pension from the UN had done pretty well to cover it. The fourth, un-occupied bedroom had worked out rather nicely as Misato's home office, which was a real blessing with her new job as a re-construction supervisor. Most of her work was signing government checks, but it was certainly a nice change of pace after everything she'd gone through as a Major at NERV. 

It was quiet and relaxing, but still close enough to the city that Shinji and Asuka could visit with their friends and attend school. The real thing that sold them though was the lake. The realtor had told Misato that it had once been a water reservoir, which meant it was one of the cleanest lakes in the area. Misato's pet, the warm-water penguin PenPen certainly didn't mind, seeing as he barely got to swim at all when they lived in Tokyo 3. This was a place where Shinji and Asuka could relax while they finished school, without the pressure of NERV, Angels, sync rates, or any of those things kids their age should never have to worry about. This was home.

"Hey Asuka-chan." Misato said as she walked through the door. The redhead was busy chatting on the phone, and quickly made a shushing gesture with her finger over her mouth. Misato took heed and sat down on the sofa, dropping her handbag lazily on the coffee table, and Shinji soon sat on the seat across from her. She gave him warm smile as he sat there, looking so much more grown up than when she first met him nearly three years ago. This little moment was cut short when Asuka finally turned off the phone.

"Asuka, were there any calls I need to know about?" Misato asked.

"Um… Oh yeah, I think you got one from Ibuki-San, she said to call back." The German replied.

"Maya called? Give me that phone!" Misato said while grabbing for the phone in Asuka's hand.

"Hey, I was supposed to call Hikari!" Asuka snapped, while refusing to let go.

"Well then use your cell phone!"

"I can't! I'm out of daytime minutes!"

"Well then wait until seven!"

As the arguing continued, Shinji decided it best to his room and listen to his SDAT for a while. After lying on the bed with his ear buds in place for a few minutes, the bickering seemed to have stopped, and judging from Misato's pleasant tone of voice, she apparently had won usage of the coveted device. _Heh. Girls._ Shinji thought to himself. Deciding that it was time that he started on dinner, he put away his tape player and headed for the kitchen. On his way there, it was obvious that Misato's conversation with Maya was making her excited, even though his mind couldn't even begin to speculate what they were talking about. His eyes turned to Asuka, who was sitting in front of the TV playing a videogame.

"Asuka, does Chicken Cesar sound good?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure." She mumbled, trying not to be distracted from the game in front of her. Shinji opened the fridge and started taking out the ingredients, and was soon preparing the salad.

* * *

Dinner started out quiet, as it had often been in the past year. Misato decided that now would be as good a time as any to bring up the conversation she had with Maya that day. 

"So, Maya has been doing pretty well since I last talked to her."

"So, what's she been up to?" questioned Shinji.

"Well, the computer networking company she started with Aoba-san and Hyuga-san has been doing really well, and…" Misato paused for a minute, wanting to make sure both teens were listening, and her smile widened. "She got married."

"She did _what?_" Asuka blasted, with her mouth hanging open. Shinji looked a little surprised too, but much more contained. "Married? To who?"

"Shigeru Aoba." Misato answered, which only made Asuka's eyes go wider.

"How did a mousy workaholic like her end up marrying that nihilist poser?" the redhead asked, rubbing her hand on her forehead.

"Well, apparently Aoba-san always had a thing for her, and about a year after Third Impact they both decided life is too short." Misato smiled. "And that's not even the best part."

"Is that so? I can hardly wait to hear _this._" Asuka muttered has she took in another forkful of salad.

"She's already five months pregnant with their first child." Asuka nearly choked on a crouton, which only made Misato laugh. Shinji merely let out a smile, which greatly annoyed the fiery German.

"I guess nothing should surprise me anymore. Next you'll be telling me you're going out with Hyuga-san!" Asuka mumbled, which caused Misato to let out another light chuckle.

"Anyway, since summer is coming up soon, I was thinking maybe we'd do a barbeque with the three of them sometime in June, and catch up for old times' sake. You can invite your friends over too, if you want." Misato smiled.

"That would be great!" Shinji said with a smile.

"Okay fine, I guess. But I've got two conditions!" demanded Asuka. Misato gestured her to continue.

"Alright first of all, you aren't allowed to get drunk and embarrass us."

"What, are you nuts?" Misato asked, half jokingly.

"And second, Shinji handles the grill, not you."

"Okay, fine. I guess we're set then."

"Well then, I guess I'll be buying a new swimsuit soon. I'm gonna go call Hikari, maybe we'll go shopping this week." Asuka grinned. Shinji let out a sigh of relief as she rose from the table. Before leaving, she shot Shinji a look.

"And I fully expect you to make something nice! There's going to be a pregnant woman there!" she barked. And with that, she turned and left the room.

"So, Maya-san and Shigeru-san. Huh." Shinji said to no-one in particular, as he continued to peck at his salad. PenPen simply let out a curious _"Wark?"_ before slurping down another fish from his bowl.

"So, Shin-chan… How are things between you and Asuka?" Misato asked.

"Oh, they're—okay I guess." He said while sipping his iced tea.

"Just okay?"

"Well, she's been a lot nicer to me lately, but we still get into arguments about stupid stuff, and she's still kind of bossy."

"Well, that's just part of her personality. I really think she wants to change though."

"Yeah…" Shinji trailed off as he finished the last of his salad. "Well, I've got finals this week, so I'd better go study." And with that, he placed his dishes in the sink and went to his room. Misato sighed as she placed her hand on PenPen's head and stroked his feathers.

Misato had always suspected that Asuka and Shinji liked each other, but as things were she knew it would be nearly impossible to get either of them to admit it—well, Asuka at least. Shinji's feelings were much easier for Misato to access, something she greatly appreciated about him. She herself had almost fallen for him once, but fortunately in the end, her maternal instincts kept her wistfulness in check. However, she still enjoyed making him blush every now and then. _He's adorable when he's embarrassed._ She smiled.

But despite her best efforts, things never really seemed to materialize between her surrogate children. Asuka would boss Shinji around hoping that he would eventually say "no", and Shinji interpreted this as her wanting him to be submissive, which only made her more frustrated. This game of theirs wasn't getting them anywhere, and Misato feared that if it did, it might end up damaging the fragile friendship that was already there.

_Yeah, you're one to talk about relationships… Almost thirty-one and you haven't had a boyfriend since Kaji._ Misato let out a sigh, but then the motherly part of her spoke up. _Your current goal is to get your kids through school. If having a man in your life fits in with that, great! If it doesn't, then don't let it get to you._ Misato smiled to herself. _My kids…_For some reason, she liked how that felt. She might not have been their mother, or their big sister… But they were still her kids, and she loved them both.Misato gave the feathers on PenPen's head a stroke with her fingers.

"So, do you think those two have a chance?"

"Wark?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure if anyone would know."

And on that last thought, Misato decided to go to the calendar and find a good day for the get together she was planning.

End chapter

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Author's Notes: 

Ah, Chapter 1 finished! Thanks for taking the time to read it, and please take a moment to leave a review, if you can spare the time. I really want to know what you think! And please check back soon for Chapter 3 :)


	3. Finals are murder

_If I owned Evangelion, why would I be just writing fan fiction for it? I could be making whatever I friggin' wanted! Evangelion is the property of Gainax._

Fist of all, I'd like to thank everyone who has left reviews thus far! I appreciate feedback a lot, both positive and critical. Even if it's just pointing out typos, I appreciate you taking the time to tell me what I can do to make my work better:)

Also, thank you everyone who is returning to read another chapter of my fic! This chapter was actually finished a while ago, but I wanted to do some touch-ups, re-writes, additions, and more proof reading before submitting it, plus I wanted get a bit of a head-start on Chapter 4 (which I'm in the process of writing).

A quick refresher: It's been 2 years since Third Impact, and Shinji (now 16) is living with Misato and Asuka in their new lakeside house near New Yokohama, the city which has become home to many people displaced by the destruction of Tokyo 3. Misato has just learned that Maya Ibuki is now married to Shigeru Aoba, and pregnant with their first child. Now, Misato has decided she's going to have a small weekend barbeque to catch up on old times with her former NERV colleagues. Also, it's finals week for Shinji and Asuka, which is giving the former a little more stress than he would like.

Now, on with the story!

* * *

Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Chapter 3 – Finals are murder

"Ooh, this one's perfect!" Asuka squealed as she picked the red two-piece from the swimsuit rack. She always loved buying new summer clothes, and the fact that she was at the opening sale of a new boutique only made the experience more gratifying.

"It's nice, but do you think Misato would approve?" Asuka's best friend Hikari asked.

"If she doesn't, then it's probably just because she thinks I'm a threat now that my figure is catching up with hers. I mean, I've been wearing bikinis since I was thirteen!" Asuka touted proudly. "So, have you seen anything you like?"

"Eh, I'm probably going to go with that black one piece I looked at before—So, who's going to be at this little party anyway?"

"Just some of Misato's old co-workers from NERV. I guess you could almost call it an informal co-ed baby shower since this was all prompted when one of them got pregnant."

"Ooh! An expectant mother, huh? That's wonderful!" Hikari said with a glowing smile.

"Yeah, I guess so… Anyway, Shinji's stooges are coming too, so play your cards right and you might see your precious Toji shirtless." The last part got a satisfying blush out of Asuka's friend, to which she snickered.

"So, it must be nice living near a lake… You and Shinji can go swimming almost every day this summer, huh?" The freckled brunette said in a passive attempt to change the subject.

"Yeah, I guess so. But if I catch that hentai scoping me, he can make out with my fist!" the fiery redhead stated while cracking her knuckles. Hikari knew Asuka's threats were empty, but politely nodded anyway. _Why are you buying _that_ then? Sounds to me like you _want_--_ "Ooh, Hikari! Check out these cover-ups, they're so hot!"Asuka squealed with delight, bringing the class rep's thought train back to the store.

* * *

Finals are murder. 

That's the conclusion Shinji came to as he poured over his mathematics textbook. Somehow when you've survived an apocalypse, finding the value of point B didn't seem as important anymore, but nonetheless Shinji knew he had to pass. _Asuka is really good at math, maybe I should summon up the courage to ask her when she gets back…_Yes, _when_ she gets back. _I guess I could use a change of pace while I'm waiting…TV sounds good._ And with that, he sat up and retreated to the living room.

Shinji found PenPen on the couch idly changing channels with the remote, and sat himself down next to the bird. The show he was watching was on some travel channel, showcasing exotic beaches crowded with young people playing in the water. _Ugh, I don't need this right now. _He thought to himself.

"Hey buddy, mind if I see what's on?"

"Wark." The penguin replied, using his flipper to slide the remote to Shinji.

"Thanks." Said the boy, who proceeded to flip through channels. "Let's see… Bay Watch? No… Jaws Marathon? No thanks… 20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea… What is this? Does _everything_ on today have to be about water?" Shinji growled, as he switched to the news channel. And he was met with more footage of people swimming in the ocean, this time 'Live and On Location'. _Okay God, if this is a joke, I'm not laughing._ He grumbled to himself. Finally, he found something he knew he'd enjoy. _Ah, The Twilight Zone. Can't go wrong there._ He smiled.

And thankfully, it was one of his favorite episodes—the one where that guy sees a monter on the airplane wing. _Classic,_ he recalled. He wasn't 10 minutes into the episode when Asuka walked through the door, carrying two paper shopping bags that were probably from a clothes store.

* * *

There he was, stupid ol' Shinji sitting on the couch watching reruns. _I'll bet the baka hasn't finished studying. _Asuka thought as she stepped into the living room and dropped her shopping bags on the floor. 

"Hey, did you study yet?" She questioned.

"Uh, sort of… I kinda got stuck." Shinji answered meekly.

"You mean you found something that you obviously need more practice with, and decided to rot your brain with this instead!"

"Oh come on! It's the one with Bill Shatner!" He pleaded. _Hmm… I like that one too. I guess his homework can wait till after we watch it. _Temporarily aborting her previous objective, Asuka happily sat on the couch next to Shinji and made herself comfortable.

It turned out that watching the show with Shinji was actually a lot of fun. He kept quiet during the good parts, but during the commercials he had interesting stuff to say, bringing up little bits of trivia like how the episode was inspired by a failed prank attempt by the show's creator when he was on a long flight with a friend, and that making the episode stemmed from his desire to see it done correctly. _He's actually a good conversationalist once he gets going…_ Finally, the episode came to an end, and Asuka's priorities returned.

"Alright, now you have to study." She ordered.

"Well, I got stuck on this—"

"Whatever it is, don't worry. Just bring your books out here and I'll figure it out with you, OK?" Asuka gave with a promising smile.

"Um—Okay." Shinji got up, and headed for his room to fetch the homework he had been avoiding.

* * *

A moment later, Shinji came back a carrying his book and papers, and thumped them down on the coffee table. Asuka glanced over his work for a moment, and quickly discovered what he was doing wrong. An hour later, she had reviewed the entire chapter with him, and pointed out several other mistakes he made and how to avoid them. 

"Now, as long as you keep your mind fresh and remember that stuff, you're gonna do fine on Wednesday's test." She smiled triumphantly.

"Thank you, Asuka." Shinji said as he relaxed into the couch cushion. He was a little surprised when Asuka started lean a closer into his personal space. _What's she doing? _His mind raced.

"So Shinji, I was wondering…" She started in an almost seductive voice, which made Shinji a little nervous. "What are you going to make for the barbeque?"

"Uh… I was thinking spare ribs, cheeseburgers, and teriyaki chicken if Misato gives me the OK." Shinji answered, trying to hide that he'd been holding his breath.

"Sounds good. We're gonna need a lot though, seeing as Ibuki—err—Aoba-san is eating for two. Plus, there will be 5 males there, yourself included."

"Hey, don't act so innocent! I know what you're like at buffet tables!" Shinji retorted to Asuka's comment. This seemed to strike a nerve with Asuka, as was evidenced by her twitching eyebrow. Suddenly, she put her foot on the coffee table and started flexing her arms, body-builder style.

"You see this? This is what a strong woman looks like!" she proudly declared. "And this here?" she drew some more attention to her bare leg with her hand. _Why did she have to wear those shorts today?_ Shinji thought. "This is _muscle_. The more muscle you have, the faster you burn calories. Maybe if you would exercise for once you'd understand my needs a little better!" Shinji simply nodded in silence, still in awe of the perfectly formed leg on full display inches from his face.

"Anyway, it's my intention to make sure you get some this Saturday, so I'd better not catch you sneaking off with your SDAT player when the guests arrive!" she said.

"Yeah, I guess so…" Shinji half-agreed while trying not to let Asuka catch him staring.

"You should be more enthusiastic! You'll be thanking me when you take your shirt off one day and find a six pack!"

Just then, they heard the front door open, followed by a familiar jingle of keys.

"Hey kids, I'm home! I'd better not find you two making out!" Misato chimed in a motherly tone as she headed for the kitchen, causing both teens to blush.

"Speaking of six-packs…" Asuka mumbled.

"I heard that! And F.Y.I., I was going to get an iced tea, smart ass!" an annoyed Misato called back.

* * *

Thursday afternoon, sitting at his school desk, Shinji sat anxiously as he waited for the test results for his final math exam to come back. Kensuke Aida, Shinji's military-obsessed geek of a friend, sat confidently behind his laptop with a broad smile on his face, so it was pretty obvious that he wasn't going to have any problems. Meanwhile Shinji's other friend Toji, a star athlete of the school, wore an expression much closer to Shinji's. It was just like Shinji would have imagined. _This waiting is driving me nuts. Let's see what those two are up to._ The chat window opened up, and soon the room was up and running. 

**EvaUnit01 has initiated private chat**

**ArmyHax1337 has entered the room**

**MadSkilz2k1 has entered the room**

**EvaUnit01:** What's up guys

**ArmyHax1337: **Yo dude. 

**MadSkilz2k1:** Yo.

**EvaUnit01:** How did you do on the test?

**MadSkilz2k1:** Pretty good. Hikari helped me study.

**ArmyHax1337:** Aced it.

**EvaUnit01:** I think I did OK. I got some help from Asuka.

**MadSkilz2k1:** She-devil? No way.

**ArmyHax1337: **LOL do U still have ur soul or did U have 2 sell it? 

**MadSkilz2k1: **Stop using haxx0r speech Kenny. It dum.

**EvaUnit01:** Anyway, you guys still on for the BBQ on Saturday?

**ArmyHax1337:** Yeah.

**MadSkilz2k1:** You betcha.

**ArmyHax1337: **Toji just can't wait to see Hikari in a swimsuit LOL

Shinji was pretty sure he heard a pencil flying through the air and hitting something, followed by a squeaky "Ow!" from Kensuke's direction.

**EvaUnit01: **I bet you're just dying to see Misato in one.

**MadSkilz2k1:** Owned. 

**ArmyHax1337:** Ur owned too, you like her also!

**MadSkilz2k1:** Well at least I've got Hikari.

**ArmyHax1337:** OK U win.

Shinji closed his laptop when he saw Hikari coming his way, handing out the test results. He braced himself as he looked at the paper. "A minus" _Yes! Thank you, Asuka!_ Shinji's mind exclaimed. A second later, he had opened up his laptop again.

**EvaUnit01:** I got an A-! What are Ur scores?

**MadSkilz2k1:** B

**ArmyHax1337:** I got an A+. Who's p0wned now?

Shinji heard another pencil fly, followed by another squeaky "Ow!"

**EvaUnit01:** Well I guess I'll see U 2 after class.

**ArmyHax1337:** Cya 

**MadSkilz2k1:** Later dude.

**ArmyHax1337 has left the room**

**MadSkilz2k1 has left the room**

**This chat room is no longer active**

Shinji closed the chat window and powered down his laptop. Putting his hands behind his head, he relaxed and let out a breath. Yup, finals were murder. But thanks to Asuka, Shinji was able to survive. Shinji looked over at Asuka, who showed no signs of surprise whatsoever when handed her results, whatever they were. _Probably an A, if that's possible_, he rolled his eyes to himself. _Still, I owe her a lot of thanks. There's got to be something nice I can say that doesn't result in getting called a hentai or being punched in the face…_

Just then, the class bell rang, and the students quickly began flooding out of the room, however Shinji made it his mission to catch Asuka before she reached the hall.

"Hey Asuka!" Shinji shouted, catching her attention. He approached her and showed her his test results with a proud grin.

"Thank you Asuka, I couldn't have done it without you." Shinji said gratefully, which earned him a genuinely pleased smile from Asuka, and what was quite possibly the nicest thing he had heard from her all year.

"Knew you could do it. Good job, Shinji!" After giving him a quick pat on the shoulder, followed by a ruffle of his hair with her fingers, she headed out door leaving Shinji with a happy, somewhat silly looking smile on his face.

* * *

"So you and she-devil are study buddies now, huh?" Toji teased Shinji, as they sat under a shady tree in the school courtyard with Kensuke. 

"Well, I was only going to ask her to help with this one angle measurement formula, but then she insisted that we go over the whole review chapter together." Shinji shrugged, but for some reason this made Toji and Kensuke look intrigued.

"So, she _wanted_ to help? Does she help you study often?" Kensuke inquired.

"Yeah, I guess so. Why?" Shinji looked a little confused, but Toji and Kensuke started grinning.

"Oh, nothing…" Toji smirked. There was a bit of an awkward pause for a moment, Shinji suspecting that there was something that his friends weren't telling him.

"Well, I should get going. It's my turn to cook again." Shinji said as he got up and proceeded to leave.

"Things might get pretty interesting this weekend." Kensuke said while adjusting his glasses.

"Yup. So should I bring my Volleyball net?"

"Go ahead, but don't expect me to play."

"I was thinking me and Hikari could do some two-on-two against the newlyweds."

"You're talking about Shinji and Asuka, and not Misato-san's friends from NERV, right?"

"Duh."

"Those two on a team? I'll bring my camera for that." Shinji's companions began to laugh this amusing idea, which would quite likely end with Shinji being either scolded or punched, depending on how things went. Indeed, Saturday was going to be a blast.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

Well, another chapter finished! Man, I felt so weird writing that first scene. "What am I doing writing a conversation between two teenage girls about bathing suits?" LOL!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even if it wasn't terribly long. Next chapter, we're going to finally be diving into the central theme of this story. Don't worry, you won't have to wait long since by the time you're reading this, I'll have already started writing chapter 4. Please remember to leave me your reviews, and God bless:)


	4. The anticipated reunion

Disclaimer: blah blah blah, something about me not owning Evangelion.

Yay, chapter 4 already! I'm having a lot of fun writing this fic, so I'm thinking it'll likely end up being at least 6 chapters. This chapter is going to be _waaay _longer than my previous entries, because I'm getting to implement a lot of ideas I've had to keep bottled up until now. Things have been good for me so far! And thanks for the reviews!

Last time, Shinji finished his final mathematics exam for the year, thanks to some much needed study help from Asuka. Shinji's friends have speculated that Asuka may have an ulterior motive, but they've chosen to leave Shinji in the dark as to what it is. Now that Misato's anticipated weekend barbeque arrived, things are going to get interesting!

* * *

Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Chapter 4 – The anticipated reunion

"Maya, you look beautiful!" Misato beamed as she embraced her former subordinate after letting her through the door.

Mrs. Maya Aoba looked almost exactly as she did when Misato last saw her, but now she was covered in a glow of healthy maternal warmth, in addition to having a modestly sized bulge of second-trimester pregnancy, which was complimented nicely by her simple but elegant white blouse and Capri pants. Misato had noticed she had let her hair grow out a little, as well. "I mean look at you, you're glowing!" she said again.

"Thank you Misato, although I really owe a lot to the father." Maya smiled as she stepped inside with her husband Shigeru, who was carrying an acoustic guitar case.

"What can I say? Our little bundle of joy hit the genetic jackpot." Shigeru smiled as he pecked Maya's lips with his own.

"So… Where's Makoto-san?" Misato asked.

"Oh, a customer needed to bump up the finalization of a deal to today, but Makoto offered to go so that we wouldn't be late. He'll only be an hour or two." Answered Shigeru.

"You know Misato, that Makoto is still carrying quite a torch for you." Maya teased.

"Yeah, I've kind of known for a while." Said Misato, suppressing a small blush.

"Every time we talk about old times at NERV, he's always the first one to bring you up. 'Major Katsuragi was the greatest! She always knew what to do, and even when she didn't she kept so cool!'" Shigeru chuckled. _Now they're just trying to embarrass me._ Misato thought, trying her best not to giggle.

"He really is a nice guy though. Maybe you should give him a chance sometime." Maya grinned.

"He was cute in his own special way, I suppose. But right now my priority is getting Shinji and Asuka through school."

"Still, a woman's entitled to some personal happiness. Shigeru and me are having a baby, but we're still going to make time for each other." Maya smiled as Shigeru rubbed her stomach.

_Hmm…She does have a point I guess._

"So, where are the former pilots, anyway?"

"Oh, they're probably outside with Asuka's friend Hikari. Come on, I'll show you the house."

"Okay, but I want to say hi to the kids afterwards." Said Maya as she wrapped her arm around Shigeru's. Misato proceeded to give them the grand tour.

* * *

_Don't let her see you staring…_That was all Shinji could think about Asuka's choice of swimwear. She was wearing a red bikini and a tie-dye cover-up, and it took every ounce of willpower to keep his focus on her eyes. Hikari seemed to be a bit more modest, wearing a black one-piece and a pair of shorts. In a way, he admired that about her. But he couldn't deny that he liked what he saw with Asuka. The three of them had been making idle chitchat for the past ten minutes or so. 

"…So then, Yin told me the only reason he asked her out to make his old girlfriend jealous, and then he stood her up! Can you believe that pig?" Asuka ranted.

"What a jerk. I just hope she doesn't give up just because one guy tried to use her." said Hikari.

_A group conversation with two girls is…different…_Shinji thought, not really having anything to add.

"So Shinji, when are your two stooges supposed to show up?"

"Oh-- I'm pretty sure they'll be here in a little bit. I told them to show up around ten."

Hikari glanced down at her sports watch.

"Well it's five of, I hope they arrive soon." Having noticed that Shinji didn't particularly enjoy their previous topic, she chose to switch to something that she was pretty sure he would. "So tell me Shinji, what kind of glaze are you using for the grill?"

"Well, I've got a mango barbeque sauce for the ribs, and I let the chicken soak in some teriyaki overnight. I'm also gonna give the burgers a little boost with some wooster—uh, worchester—dang, what's it called?"

"Worcestershire sauce." Asuka said blankly, while giving her eyes a roll.

"That word is so hard! How the do they expect people to pronounce it?" Shinji grumbled, but Asuka and Hikari let out a laugh. Just then, Shinji saw his buddies Toji and Kensuke coming from around the side of the house, both wearing swim trunks, sandals, and T-shirts, with sports bags slung over their shoulders. Toji also carried a big nylon bag in his hand, which Shinji could only assume was his volleyball net.

"Hey Shin-Man, how's it flying?" Toji shouted.

"Hey guys." Shinji waved, and his friends soon dropped their bags and made themselves comfortable with Misato's patio furniture.

"Hi Hikari." Toji grinned as he leaned down and kissed his girlfriend on the forehead. She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Hey Shinji, did Misato's friends from NERV get here already? I saw a pretty sweet car parked out front." Kensuke inquired, which made Shinji feel a little more alert.

"Maybe Misato is showing them around the house?" He gestured.

"Ooh… If I find anything displaced in my room she's gonna get it!" Asuka angrily spat.

* * *

Hikari's gaze drifted over to the lake, and her eyes settled on a small island not far from the shore. It was less than a hundred feet wide with lots of tall trees growing on it, and had some large, smooth looking rocks coming out of the water around it. 

"So Asuka, what's that little island over there?" she pointed.

"It's a pretty nice place, I've swum to it once or twice. Maybe later we can all swim over there, if you guys want." Asuka informed her with a grin. Shinji however seemed to sink into his chair quietly at this notion.

_I'm going to need an excuse, but what? It'll be a miracle if I can get through the summer without Asuka figuring it out…_Shinji's mind debated. His thought was cut off when the patio door slid open, and out stepped Misato—and almost instantly, Toji and Kensuke's jaws dropped when they saw her. She wore a navy blue string bikini, a pink cover-up around her legs, and a pair of flip-flop sandals.

"Ow!" Toji let out a quiet yelp, and his eyes went back to Hikari. Noticing he was now the only one staring, Kensuke's attention quickly went to his friends. _What is with those two? It's just Misato in a swimsuit…_Shinji shook his head. In all fairness though, he had a similar reaction when he'd fist seen her like that. After living with her for three years though, he'd adapted to it. _Nothing I haven't seen before…She does look good though._

Misato led her two guests onto the patio with a smile, and introduced everyone to each other. Almost instantly, Hikari and Asuka had flocked over to Maya and wasted no time to start feeling her stomach and bombarding her with giggle-laced questions, which she was more than happy to answer.

_Heh, girls._ Shinji thought.

Shigeru pulled up a seat and sat down with the group of young men.

"So, you were part of the Evangelion project?" Kensuke asked with his face lit up.

"Yes, but I also worked with the Magi system. Most of my job was with computers, so it wasn't extremely exciting."

"So, did your work with the Magi help when you started your company with Maya-San and Hyuga-san?" Shinji asked.

"A lot. In fact, that's probably biggest reason we're doing so well. When the Magi were destroyed with Tokyo 3, all of the cities that were connected to them were almost completely blacked out. But since we were familiar with how the Magi worked, we were able to come up with individual systems that could carry out their basic functions, and get the cities up and running again."

"Cool!" Kensuke grinned. Most of this conversation seemed a little over Toji's head, so Shigeru took note.

"Ah, I'm sounding like a commercial, that's enough about my job for now. How was school this year? Did you meet any nice girls you like?" he smiled, and he had soon stuck a very active conversation.

* * *

"So, is it a boy or a girl? Do you know yet?" Hikari asked Maya. 

"Well, we did have an ultrasound done, but we decided we wanted to wait till it's born to find out." Maya answered.

"Have you thought of any names yet?" Asuka asked.

"Actually, we have. But I need to wait for Shigeru and Shinji before I can tell you." Asuka looked over in the direction of the men who were still blabbering with eachother, and scowled. _Aw come on… I want to know now!_

"So Maya-san, Misato-san tells me that your business is doing really well… And actually, I'm thinking of being a business major when I start college! Is there any advice you can give me?" Hikari asked.

"Well, first of all, the business world we have today isn't quite booming yet, but I'd say you'd be making a smart choice to jump in early. I'd definitely advise you take something else on the side too though, so you have something to fall back on. But the best piece of advice I can give you, is don't let your professional ambitions make you forget what's really important." With that last sentence, Maya looked down and rubbed her pregnancy.

"Yeah, I really hope I can start a family someday too. But please don't tell Toji! Boys his age are terrified of that stuff." the young brunette blushed with a smile. Maya turned her attention to Asuka.

"So Asuka, what are your plans?"

"Well, I already got a college degree when I was like, twelve. But I'm thinking about going again to get my masters' degree. I haven't really decided what I want it in though."

"Well, do you have any personal goals, like Hikari?"

"Humph. Why would I want to start a family? All the boys I know are jerks, and besides, I don't think I want to have kids."

"Well, I used to feel that way too, but look at me now." Maya told her. "Asuka… Are you afraid you'd be a bad mother?" Asuka stayed quiet for a moment.

"Well-- I really don't know. It's not that I don't like kids, but I haven't exactly had a lot of good examples…"

Hearing this caused Maya to frown slightly, wondering if perhaps she'd asked a little too much. _Poor kid… I do remember hearing she had some serious mom issues growing up…_

"Well don't worry, you're still young. You have plenty of time to figure things out." She said reassuringly, to which Asuka made a small nod.

The patio door slid open, and Misato stepped out with a cooler in her arms.

"Drinks anyone? And remember, no beer if you're under 20, unless you're _really_ nice to me!" she called teasingly, and all of the teens flocked around grabbing for various sodas. Maya stood up from her seat and put her hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Hey Shiggy, don't we have an announcement to make?" She asked him, speaking loud enough that the others could hear.

_What? Did she just call Aoba-san "Shiggy"? What is it with married people…_Asuka's mind tried to comprehend.

"Ah yes, we do. Shinji? Asuka?" the two teens looked at the longhaired man. "With both of your permission, we were hoping that if our baby is a girl, we could name it Asuka, and if it's a boy we could name it Shinji." Asuka's eyes lit up like stars, and Shinji's went wide.

"Well of course! Who wouldn't want to have their child named after me?" Asuka proudly accepted.

"Uh, yeah, sure I guess." Shinji said with a nervous smirk on his face.

"Well then thank you, both of you." Maya gleamed as she took a seat with Shigeru.

Finished with his cola, Toji picked up his big nylon bag and slung it over his shoulder. While taking Hikari's hand in his, he looked over to Asuka and Shinji.

"Hey newlyweds, do you want me and Hikari to whoop you at some volleyball?" He challenged, knowing Asuka's pride wouldn't be able to resist with that wording.

"Will you stop with that newlywe—argh! There's no way you can beat me, even with that baka on my team! Come on, Shinji!" Asuka grabbed her housemate by the arm.

"Asuka, did you remember your sun block?" Misato asked motherly.

"Ugh-- Yes!" the redhead huffed angrily. She pulled Shinji's arm and soon the two were following their friends down to the sandy beach.

Kensuke grinned and started rummaging through his sports bag, finally producing his trusted camcorder.

"This is gonna be great!" he laughed.

* * *

"You dummkopf! How are you supposed to hit the ball if you're too afraid to even look at it when it's coming?" Asuka yelled at Shinji, who had just allowed Toji and Hikari to score. 

"I'm sorry, it's a reflex!"

"So you can catch a giant angel falling from outer space with enough explosives to destroy a city, but you can't parry a leather ball filled with air?" the german growled while picking up the white volleyball. "It's not like getting hit even hurts that much, see?" She then bounced the ball on Shinji's head.

"Ow!"

"Okay, now this time, if the ball is coming at you, just bump it to me and I'll take care of it. And don't cover your face!" Shinji nodded. Asuka rolled the ball under the net and Toji picked it up.

"Ready you two?" the shirtless jock asked.

"Bring it on!" Challenged the redhead.

Toji served the ball into the court, and Asuka rushed to set it, followed by a good spike, landing it in the opposing court before the other team could intercept. _Wow, she's good._ Shinji thought. _She _looks_ good, too…_he mentally commented, as he stole a glance at her uncovered legs and bouncing "assets". _Gah! Stop thinking about her like that! That's Asuka!_ He shook his head to clear his mind.

"Now, remember: if it's coming at you, don't chicken out, it's not made of lead!" Asuka barked as Hikari tossed her the ball.

The teams took their positions, and Asuka made her serve. Hikari managed to pass it to Toji, who made a hard spike in Shinji's direction. Remembering Asuka's instructions, Shinji did his best to parry, and was semi-successful—except that he ended up using his face instead of his hands. Seconds later, he noticed that he was now laying on his back in the sand. _Oh man, I sure hope I don't get a nosebleed!_ Soon, Asuka was glaring daggers at Toji.

"What were you thinking? Are you trying to kill the poor baka?" she shouted at him angrily.

"Oops. Oh well, a point is a point." The jock shrugged, and received a punch in the shoulder from Hikari.

"Argh! You stupid, smug-faced muscle-head!" Asuka yelled in frustration while pulling Shinji to his feet.

"This is pure dynamite." Kensuke laughed as he caught it all on camera from the sidelines.

* * *

"Makoto! It's so good to see you again!" Misato said cheerfully as she shook the former lieutenant's hand. 

"Ah, hello Major Katsuragi." Makoto Hyuga said with a blush on his face. He'd never seen Misato dressed like this before, but she more than lived up to his mind's expectations... Even the large scar near her ribs, which Makoto had never before known of, didn't detract from her image one bit. If anything it showed strong character, since Misato clearly wasn't ashamed of people seeing it.

"I'm not a Major anymore." She reminded him. "And you're not my subordinate, so to you I'm just Misato now." A playful grin came across her lips.

"Oh, okay, Misato… It's good seeing you too." the young man smiled. He'd never called her by her first name before, but he certainly liked how it felt. "So, uh… Shigeru, the transaction went over smoothly. Maruki-san said that he looked forward to doing business with us again."

"Dandy. Now sit down!" Shigeru gestured to the seat next to Misato. Hyuga complied, and tried his best not to allow himself to sweat. Misato wanted to giggle at his shyness, but was able to contain herself.

Shigeru reached into the cooler and pulled out three beers, plus a ginger ale for Maya, at her request. "_No drinking for you until you're of age."_ She had teased while looking at her bulge.

"Misato… Have you heard from Ritsuko at all?" Maya asked.

"No, I haven't. If she's gotten back yet--" she paused. _Not since third impact…_"I have a feeling we won't be hearing from her until she's ready. I think she had a lot of baggage that she still needs to sort through." They all sat in silence for a moment.

"Well then, here's to Dr. Aikagi, wherever she may be." Shigeru said while raising his beverage. His former NERV colleagues followed, and they drank.

"So… Tell me Misato, how are the kids?" Makoto asked.

"Well, they still act up sometimes, but they're getting along a lot better. Sometimes when they get started though, I almost feel like I'm not quite an adult." Misato gave a light-hearted sigh.

"Well you've certainly got my respect. It takes a really special kind of person to take on the commitment of raising two teenagers." Now, it was Misato's turn to blush.

"Th--thank you." She stammered. "So, how have you been? Your personal life, I mean."

"Well, I don't really know a lot of people in New Yokohama outside of work…"

_He always did seem kind of shy, except when he was at work-- Almost like Shinji in a way. He probably just needs something to break him out of his shell._

"So, what have you been doing in your spare time?" asked Misato.

"Well—there's a nice art museum that I like to visit."

_Art museum? Yup, that'd be a shell._

Misato's thoughts were cut short when they heard some very loud arguing coming from the beach, and soon the troupe of sixteen year olds were marching up to the patio. The first thing that everyone noticed was a large red mark on Shinji's face.

* * *

"What on earth happened to Shinji?" Misato shouted with worry, as she cupped Shinji's face with her hand and inspected the mark. 

"He got hit in the head with the ball." Said Toji.

"Yeah, when _you _pegged him with it!" Asuka sneered, and shook her closed fist at him.

"You two stop it, we had this argument already!" Hikari scolded.

Shinji rubbed the red mark on his face, feeling embarrassed about being the center of attention.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt that bad. It'll probably go away in a few minutes…" He mumbled apologetically.

"Well, we should at least put some ice on it, or it might swell up. Asuka, could you go get a dish cloth?" Misato requested. Less than a minute later, Shinji had a decent sized wad of ice and cloth pressed to his face.

"Hmm… I feel like going for a swim. Hey Hikari, do you want to go check out that island?" Asuka asked.

"Sure, let's all go!" Hikari smiled at Toji, who stood up with Kensuke.

"Hey Shinji, you're coming too! A little cool water would be good for that mark on your face!" Asuka said, not exactly as a request.

"Uh, actually I was thinking I'd just stay here and start on lunch. Go ahead, you'll have more fun without me. Besides, you'll be hungry when you get back."

"What? Don't give me that! I seem to remember informing you that I wanted you to get some exercise today!"

"It's okay Asuka. If he's not interested in going, you don't have to make him." Misato stepped in.

"What? Don't tell me you're—oh fine, stay here and be bored. But you're gonna be running laps later!" Asuka said with a mix of anger and disappointment, and was soon off to the water with Shinji's three other friends.

"Well, I think I'll go get the food ready." Shinji said. He got up and went into the house, sliding the door shut behind him.

"Misato, is Shinji—" Mokoto started.

"Yes." Misato sighed, as a memory from long ago came back to her in vivid detail.

* * *

"Shinji-kun, you really need a break. Look at you, you've already taken down three Angels, but it's like you never leave the house!" Shinji's lavender-haired room-mate complained. 

"Well, I don't really have anywhere to go except to visit Toji and Kensuke." He explained reluctantly. Misato let out a sigh, but then a bright smile came across her face.

"Tell you what, this weekend we'll drive down to the ocean. It'll be just the two of us without any of our problems, unless something comes up at NERV and they really need us. The ocean is perfect for swimming this time of year!"

"That sounds nice Misato, but you don't need to go through all that just for me."

"Come on, it'll be lots of fun! I'll get us a nice hotel suite to stay at, and we can eat out somewhere special!" she nagged.

"Thanks, but I'm fine." He said passively.

_Okay Shinji, you asked for it. It's time for my secret weapon. _A minxy grin appeared on Misato's lips, and she stooped down to Shinji's eye level so that her face was only a few inches away from his.

"If you're a good boy-- I'll let you rub suntan lotion all over me. And I just bought a _really_ nice new bikini…" She said in a seductive voice, which made Shinji's face turn the most adorable shade of red Misato had seen.

"I, uh—thanks, but um…" he stammered nervously.

"Oh come on Shinji, why don't you want to go?"

"_I can't swim,_ alright?" He shouted, and Misato's playfulness suddenly left her.

"Are you a bad swimmer? Because if you want I could teach--" she began to ask pleadingly, but was cut-off.

"I'm scared of water. Are you satisfied now?" Shinji said looking almost like he was about to cry. He plopped down onto the couch with a thud.

"I—I'm sorry Shinji."

"Don't be, I'm the one who should be sorry-- sorry for being such a wimp and rejecting your kindness and generosity." He sniffled. Misato then took a seat next to him on the couch.

"It's okay Shinji, that's nothing to be ashamed of." She put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "We'll just go somewhere else, okay?" Shinji's eyes had stopped welling, and he gave a weak smile.

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

The island had turned out to be really nice, just like Asuka described. The water around it was fairly shallow, only about four or five feet deep, making it a little warmer than the rest of the lake. There wasn't much of a shore, but the large smooth rocks surrounding it made it fairly easy to climb onto the land. The trees provided plenty of shade on the island itself, but it wasn't long before Toji had climbed one of them and was trying to convince Kensuke to do the same. Hikari and Asuka however, had decided to lounge on the rocks while dipping their feet in the water. 

Asuka was disappointed that Shinji decided not to come, but she was mad at him too, especially for hiding behind Misato like that. _Hmm… I wonder if I should make him do some pushups later, too…_

"Asuka, are you thinking about Shinji?" asked Hikari, catching Asuka a little off guard.

"What? As if I don't have anything better to think about than that little baka." The redhead denied.

"Oh, well I was just wondering…" Hikari trailed off.

"Wondering what?"

"Well… Do you think Shinji can't swim?"

"What? Of course not! He obviously had no problems being completely submerged in LCL when he was an Eva pilot, and he had to breathe that stuff! He's probably just lazy."

"Well, it's just that he seemed to be kind of jittery whenever we brought up the subject of swimming, and I could tell he was disappointed when we all left."

Asuka thought for a minute, and then the idea really started to stick with her.

"Hmm… Actually, when I think about it… I'm not even sure Shinji _owns_ a pair of swim trunks. And ever since I met him, I can't think of a single time I've seen him in the water."

"Maybe he's afraid?"

"That'd be just like that baka! He handles an extreme just fine, but when faced with something normal he's terrified! It's just like at the volleyball court."

"But, if he's scared of water, then why didn't he mind moving to a lake house?"

"Well you clearly don't know Shinji like I do."

"Hmm… I guess not."

* * *

At lunch, the teenagers and adults had broken off into groups to eat in. Kensuke decided to sit with the adults, because he was having an absolutely fascinating conversation about some recently de-classified NERV information with Shigeru. Misato was having a pleasant talk with Maya and Makoto about who-knows-what, but she looked like she was enjoying it immensly. 

In the younger group, things were a lot quieter, but not nearly as friendly. Having already wolfed down her food, Asuka simply sat there watching Shinji eat, and staring with a hard look that almost frightened him. Finally, Shinji just had to ask.

"Um… Asuka, is there something you're mad about?"

"You can't swim, can you?" Asuka's words nearly knocked Shinji out of his seat. "I knew it! I'll bet you're afraid of water, too!" Her face made a mean grin, and Shinji almost felt like he wanted to curl up under his chair and die.

"Asuka-- You're embarrassing me." Shinji whispered.

"Shinji, there is no rational reason for you to be scared of water!"

"Yes there is, it's called drowning." This really seemed to annoy Asuka.

"Ugh! Since when did you become so stubborn? If you learned to be a good swimmer, you wouldn't be afraid of drowning!"

"I don't want to." He stated, trying to hold his ground.

"Then I'll _make you_!" Asuka shouted at him while shaking her fist, drawing everyone's attention. Shinji's eyes went wide, and he didn't have anything to say. "Before summer is over, you're going to swim over to that island and back, and I'm going to teach you how!"

"I—ow!" Shinji felt a kick in the shin from Toji, who made several odd gestures that seemed to demand Shinji agree. Shinji's insides were at complete war with each other.

"You know me, Shinji. When I set my mind on something, I _won't_ give up until I get it. Now are you going to _let_ me be your trainer, or not?"

Toji gave Shinji another kick.

"Do it!" he whispered. Shinji was extremely confused at this point, but in the end the word broke free of it's prison in Shinji's throat.

"Yes."

"Perfect!" Asuka smiled triumphantly.

Shinji slumped into his seat, and started poking his potato salad idly. _What did I just get myself into?_

Misato on the other hand couldn't be happier. Not only had Asuka willingly made a commitment to spend more time with Shinji, but the girl also was able to do what Misato had given up on long ago and get Shinji to face his fear of water. Whether or not she'd have success, only time could tell. But regardless, Asuka had actually managed to break down Shinji's barrier, and Misato wanted to hug her for it. _Maybe her domineering personality can help Shinji to change? Now, if only Shinji could help her scale it back a little… _Misato wondered.

* * *

"What is wrong with you? Do you think this is funny?" Shinji belted at Toji. Shinji had taken his two friends to a slightly more secluded area around the other side of the house, because they needed to talk. 

"Hey man, I'm not the one who said yes." Toji chuckled. He was finding all of this very amusing.

"That was only because you pressured me into it! What I want to know is why? Is it because you think I'm a wimp too?"

"Ah, so naïve… I was once the same." There he was again with the chuckling. This was really getting annoying for Shinji.

"And what do you mean by that?"

"He means, there's a lot more to this than you being afraid of water." Kensuke inserted.

"Yeah, like what?" pouted the young Ikari.

"Shinji, do you remember when Hikari first offered to make me lunch at school?" Toji asked, and Shinji nodded. "Well at first, I thought that she was just being practical. But when I was in the hospital, she'd visit me and hold my hand, and say she wished there was more she could do…"

"And?"

"After third impact, when we were able to see each other again, she kept finding little favors to do for me. She even started giving me haircuts, and that's when it hit me… She enjoyed doing things for me, because she _liked_ me."

Shinji suddenly realized what Toji was getting at, and his jaw went slack.

"Are you saying Asuka might—like _me_?" he asked.

"Let's just put it this way—For her, it's not just about whether or not you know how to swim. It's because _she_ wants to _teach you_."

"You'd better watch your back Shinji, because the demon wants to put her mark on you!" Kensuke laughed juvenilely. Shinji just shook his head.

"This is… Heavy." He sighed while rubbing his forehead.

* * *

Author's notes 

Whew! Finally, I finished that chapter! I had a lot to cover in it, so it ended up being lot longer than I had originally anticipated. I had originally contemplated breaking it in half, but decided against it since it didn't feel complete otherwise.

And just in case anyone was wondering about the whole "No drinks if you're under 20" line, I made sure to google it and found out that Japan's legal drinking age is 20, a year younger than the legal age here in the US.

The next chapter might take a little while to go up because I didn't have time to get a head start on it like I did with chapter 4, because it was so much longer and took a lot more time to proof read. I really hope it was worth the wait though, and it'll be enough to tide you over till I can get Chapter 5 out. Keep on the look out for the next chapter, and please try to leave a review if you've got the time. Thanks again, and God bless:)


	5. I want you to relax

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion, so don't ask me for free merchandise! 

Well, I'm glad to see you all enjoyed the previous chapter, it took me a lot of time to get it to where I felt it was presentable, but even then I decided to go back and make a few nips and tucks. So thank you for the reviews:)

As you probably remember, in the last chapter, Misato had a barbeque with some of her former subordinates from NERV to catch up on old times. However, Asuka came to the realization that Shinji does not know how to swim, and is afraid to try. After some elbow twisting from the Second Child coupled with some pressure from Toji, Shinji agreed to let Asuka teach him how to swim. But is there more to Asuka's intentions than meets the eye? According to what Toji has told Shinji, Asuka might have feelings for him, which she's trying to explore. Now that the party is over and the guests are gone, Shinji doesn't know what to think.

* * *

Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Chapter 5 – I want you to relax

Sleep still evading him, Shinji rolled over onto his side in the darkness of his bedroom. "12:48 AM" the clock read. He just couldn't shut his stupid head up and fall asleep, and his sore muscles weren't helping. _Whoever invented pushups must have been a closet sadist. _His mind growled, and decided that a tall glass of water was in order. After getting up from his bed and walking into the kitchen, he found Misato still up, running over a few work-related documents.

"You're still up?" she asked.

"I couldn't fall asleep, I'm just getting a drink." He said as he filled a glass at the sink. "What are you doing awake?"

"Just running over some safety reports from a project at the Tokyo 4 construction site, nothing big."

"Uhuh." He said, and sipped his water.

"So Shinji, is there something you want to talk about? After all, you had an exciting day today."

"Exciting isn't exactly the word I'd use."

Shinji sat down in the chair across from Misato, and there was silence for a moment.

"You know Shinji, Asuka was really happy that you agreed to let her give you swimming lessons."

"Yeah…"

There was another momentary pause. Shinji knew the question he wanted to ask, but wasn't quite sure how to word it.

"Misato? Do girls sometimes do stuff for guys because they like them?"

"Well, it depends on what kind of 'stuff' you're talking about." Misato teased with a wink.

"Uh-- that's not the kind of stuff I meant." Shinji blushed.

"Do you mean 'stuff' like what Asuka's been doing lately?"

"I guess so."

Misato smiled thoughtfully as she gazed at her ward. It looked like the pieces might actually be falling into place, after all this time…

"I won't pretend that I know just what's going on in her head, but from what I can tell, she likes you." Misato gave him a smile. "And seeing as you said _yes_, would I be correct to assume that you like her back?"

"Well—Yeah, I guess I do." Finally, he made an actual confession. It was a start, at least.

"Well then, I think you're doing the right thing to go along with her. You're confronting a fear on someone else's behalf, and that's a very noble thing to do."

"Thanks, Misato." Shinji got up and put his empty cup in the sink. "Well, I gotta get some sleep. Tomorrow Asuka wants to take me swimsuit shopping." He gave his guardian a light hug. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Shinji-kun." His guardian hugged back, while still in her seat. And with that, Shinji returned to his room.

_Are my Shinji and Asuka finally going to come together? Please God, let it be true…_

* * *

"Wake up, cadet! Sergeant Langley's boot camp for the hydrophobic starts today!" Shinji heard the familiar shout of his German housemate. 

He glanced over at his clock. _Ugh…7:00? I barely got six hours of sleep!_ He thought with a groan. Today was going to be a rough day. He looked over to Asuka and noticed that she was wearing a pair of running shorts and a sports bra. _Great, what's she up to now?_

"Um, Asuka? I thought you were going to take me shopping?"

"I am, but not before we get some morning exercise!" she gave a mischievous grin. "Now get dressed and meet me outside when you're ready to go!" She said as she turned and left Shinji's room, her waist-length hair flowing behind her.

When he was ready, Shinji found Asuka on the patio with PenPen sitting on her lap. She was now wearing a visor and had her hair done in a ponytail, and she gave Shinji a bright smile.

"Well, you certainly took long enough. Now, let's get down to the beach and run some laps!" She grinned.

"Oh come on, not laps _again!_" The Japanese boy moaned, to which Asuka snickered.

* * *

After the two teenagers had run for what felt like a marathon for Shinji, Asuka nearly ended up dragging the boy's limp body back up to the patio, where she soon had him doing pushups again. She wasn't done yet, though. 

"Now, it's time for sit ups!"

"Sit ups? Are you crazy?"

"Just do it!" She barked. Shinji sat down on the floor and Asuka stood on his feet to make sure they didn't leave the ground. She decided to go easy on him, and only made him do six or so before letting him stop.

"Okay, that's enough for now. I'm going to go take a shower, so you'll have some time to start on breakfast. When I'm done I want you to take a bath and put on some good clothes." She gave Shinji a hard pat on the back and went into the house. Shinji simply lay on the patio, taking one exhausted breath after the next. He turned his head to PenPen, who simply looked down at Shinji with a confused look.

"What the heck is she doing to me? Does she expect me to do this every freakin' day?" He asked the penguin. PenPen simply shrugged, and waddled over to a lounge chair and relaxed on it. _Stupid bird. When was the last time _you_ had to work out?_

Shinji did his best to pull himself up, and groaned as he walked back into the house. When he was in the kitchen, he decided that he needed protein. Hoping Asuka felt like eggs and bacon, he was soon frying some up in a large skillet. He set three places on the table, and had just finished devouring his helping when the bathroom door slid open, and into the kitchen stepped his new trainer, with wet hair and wearing a pink bathrobe.

"Mm... Ich rieche speck…" she groaned happily while inhaling.

"I set a plate for you. There's still some OJ left in the fridge, if you want any." He said as he slumped over to the bathroom feeling _very_ sore.

* * *

_Man, my muscles feel like they've been run through a taffy machine!_ Shinji thought as he sank into the bathtub. The warm water definitely helped, especially when he rubbed his muscles with it. He leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling, and started thinking about the commitment he had made to Asuka. 

_Why am I doing this? I had no problem saying no to Misato when she wanted to teach me, so why is Asuka any different?_

_Were you afraid she'll stop being nice to you if you said no? Or, do you actually like her enough that you finally want to do something about your cowardice?_

Shinji wasn't really sure. He had liked Asuka for a very long time, but he had always been afraid to act on his feelings. After over two years of doing almost nothing, he should've considered himself lucky that she hadn't already decided to move on.

_Maybe that's it… With Misato, it wasn't a turning point. I knew her feelings for me wouldn't change, even if I turned her offer down. But with Asuka, this is my big chance to get close to her. If I turned _her_ down—No, Maybe I'm actually smarter than I give myself credit for…_

He smiled. He was still terrified of the idea that Asuka was going to stick him in the water and tell him to swim, but at least she'd be there to help him.

* * *

Asuka was eating her breakfast, when Misato's bedroom door slid open and she stumbled out, looking disheveled like she usually did in the morning. 

"Hmm… Good morning, Asuka." She moaned while stretching as she walked down the hall. Asuka heard her slide a door open, followed by an embarrassed male yelling and a splash of water.

"Agh, Misato! A little privacy please?" Shinji shouted.

"Ah! Sorry Shinji-kun!" she apologized while hurrying back to the kitchen, a slight blush on her face.

"I—didn't realize Shinji was up already." Misato said while sitting down at the plate Shinji had prepared for her.

"I woke him up early so we could exercise together. I worked him pretty good."

"Hmm, I'll bet you did…" Misato grinned slyly.

"Ugh! Why do you always have to turn everything into an innuendo?" growled Asuka while pulling her hair.

"Because you two are so much fun to tease!" Misato joked playfully, to which Asuka simply grumbled and went back to her breakfast. "You know Asuka, I'm really proud of what you're doing for Shinji. I gave up on getting him to swim _ages_ ago."

"Well, maybe you were too soft on him."

"Perhaps… But, couldn't you stand to be just a _little_ bit easier on him?"

"If I cut the leash, he's just going to run away! I don't think I can get through to him otherwise."

"Well, I don't know if that's true… Shinji really likes it when you're happy."

"Yeah, I guess he does." _But why? Is it just because I won't be mean to him, or is it because he actually gets satisfaction out of it?_ She thought silently. She wasn't really ready to ask a question like that to Misato.

"So… Why did you offer to teach him?"

"Why? Because I don't want to live with a feigling who can't swim!"

"That's not the _real_ reason, is it?"

"Well… No."

"Can you tell me what it is? Because I'm pretty sure I already know."

"…I'm not sure yet."

_Hmm… I think we're actually making some progress._ Misato thought with a quiet, but happy sigh.

"Shinji is a very sweet boy, Asuka. And I don't think he would have agreed to getting lessons if it was with anyone other than you."

The two women stayed quiet for the remainder of breakfast, but they both did plenty of thinking.

* * *

_I should have known it couldn't be as simple as going there, buying a swimsuit, and going home._ Shinji grumbled as Asuka paid for the surprisingly large purchase. When she had brought him to the store, he was originally planning on getting a pair of plain, baggy black trunks. But Asuka talked him into getting two pairs that were slightly louder, brightly colored, and a little bit shorter—one that was red and black, and another other that was green and blue. They certainly weren't the kind he'd have chosen on his own, but since Asuka recommended them, he thought it best to comply. Besides, she was buying. 

Before he realized what was happening, Asuka had picked up three dresses, two pairs of shorts, and a new set of underwear all for herself. Now Shinji would be stuck carrying no less than three bags back to the house, and after all that he'd still have his first swimming lesson to "look forward to". _How can girls spend so much money on clothes?_ He shook his head as the cashier handed Asuka the receipt.

"Thank you!" Asuka smiled.

"Please come again!" The black-haired young woman said. _Great, five bags now._ Asuka picked up one of them, and left the remaining four to Shinji. He did his best to hide his displeasure, as Asuka happily led him back into the mall.

"Um… Thanks for the trunks, Asuka." Shinji said.

"No problem. But if you _really_ want to thank me, you can buy me lunch at the food court. There's a Mexican place I want to try." She said manipulatively.

_Argh… I knew that this was going to end up biting me in the wallet somehow._ Shinji scowled as he thought to himself.

* * *

When they had gotten home, Asuka instructed Shinji to go and change into his swim trunks and meet her outside by the beach, while she went to her room to change. After she stripped off her clothes and folded them into a neat pile on her bed, she started going through her dresser drawer. Then, she finally found it: her army camouflage bikini. She was _really_ playing up the drill-instructor theme today. 

When she was done putting it on, she grabbed her beach towel and slung it around her neck. She went outside to the beach and found Shinji holding a folded towel, and dressed in his black and red swim-trunks just as she told him-- except that he was also wearing a white T-Shirt.

"Baka, why are you wearing a shirt?"

"Uh, I felt like it."

"Well take it off!"

"Why?"

"Because when you get in the water, it's only going to cause drag." _Besides… Were you expecting to look at all of _this _for free? I think I'm entitled to seeing something, too. _She thought with a touch of lewdness. _Um… Besides, I need to see what we've got to work with._

Shinji frowned a little, and lifted his shirt off. He then hung it from a nearby tree branch, along with the beach towels. _Well, he doesn't have a whole lot to look at yet. Still, he's got potential I guess. It's all the more reason to keep him exercising._

"Okay, now that that's done with--" Asuka paused, and then put her hands on her hips. "It's time for us to get in the water."

"Uh, Asuka, I'm not quite sure I'm ready to--"

"No! You're not going to back out now. And I'll have you know that when I was in Germany, I completed a full training course to be a lifeguard for a summer camp! I am _not_ going to let anything bad happen to you!"

"You were a lifeguard?"

"Well—Not for very long." She trailed off.

"Why?"

_Ugh! I didn't want to drag this up again, but I don't think he's going to trust me unless I tell him…_

"Well—A couple of idiots complained that I was too strict and yelled too much!"

"Hmm… I wonder where they could've gotten an idea like that?" Shinji snickered, which really seemed to irritate Asuka.

"Just get in, you baka!" She snapped. She then grabbed his arm and led him down to the water, and she stepped in. "Now, I promise that we're going to stay close to the shore today, so don't get scared." She said in a calm voice. Shinji swallowed hard, and stepped his foot into the cool water. It wasn't long before Asuka had led him in up to his knees.

"Now, this isn't so bad, is it?" Asuka said with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess… But that's because we're not in deep enough to sink yet."

"Listen Shinji, I don't know what you've seen or heard, but you don't have to know how to swim to stay afloat."

Asuka led Shinji in a little deeper, until they were both in up to around their waists. Shinji was getting a bit tenser at this point, but then he felt Asuka's warm hand on his back, and calmed down a little.

"I want you to try leaning backwards a little bit… Yeah, that's it, keep going…" Asuka said as Shinji started to go down, with the water covering most of his body. She placed her other hand on his chest, and felt his heart beating rapidly.

"Now, breathe slowly and deeply-- I want you to relax. Now, try to lift your feet up until you're on your back."

Shinji was getting very nervous, but feeling Asuka's hands on his torso helped to sooth him. Putting his trust in her, he did as she said. Soon, he was floating on his back! _Wow… I never knew that I could float like this…It's actually not so bad. _They stayed like that for another minute or two.

"So, how do you feel?"

"Hmm… Like I could fall asleep." He mumbled.

"Good, because now we're going to try having you hold your breath underwater. Have you ever heard of the Dead man's float?"

_Dead man's float? I do _not_ like the sound of that!_ Shinji shuddered, but did his best to bear with it.

* * *

_Look at those two… The way she touches him, the way he's putting his trust in her… It's so cute._ Misato sighed wistfully, as she looked at her two kids in the water. Asuka was showing Shinji a side of herself that as far as Misato could tell, she barely showed to anyone, and that was definitely a good sign. _She's being so calm and gentle, almost like a mother…_ she thought. _And they look so good together._ Her superficial side added, causing her to chuckle before taking a sip of lemonade. She gave PenPen a pat on the head, and watched from afar as Asuka's lesson continued.

* * *

"Well, I think that's enough for today. Tomorrow, you're getting up bright and early for your exercises, and then we'll practice some more swimming." Asuka said as the two walked out of the water. Shinji was trying to maintain his balance while his body adjusted to the different gravity-- He had just spent well over an hour floating in water, after all. 

"Ugh… Are we going to do this every day?"

"Hey, don't complain! That's how you're going to get in shape, unless you're happy as a skinny twerp." Said Asuka. She gave Shinji a small jab with her finger.

"Ow!"

"Now remember, 7:00 AM tomorrow, bright and early. We're going to come back out here, and get some more training!"

Shinji sighed and slumped his shoulders.

"So… Are you okay with leftovers for supper?" he asked.

"Since today was your first day, I'll cut you some slack. But tomorrow will be a different story!"

As the pair walked up the sandy bank and dried themselves with towels, they started thinking about each other. About how things were changing, and where they might be going—or more specifically, where they hoped things were going. Asuka knew it was hard for Shinji to face his fear of water, and Shinji knew it was hard for Asuka to let people see the real her. But now that they were helping each other, those walls were beginning to come down. They knew they wanted to get closer, but they still needed to learn how.

_End chapter_

* * *

Author's notes 

Well, another chapter down! I'm glad I was able to get one more finished before Memorial Day weekend. I was working on this one almost non-stop, because if it wasn't finished by tonight, I might not have ottent to finish it for several days since my family is coming over! Having said that, I may not get to start on Chapter 6 for another few days, but it'll at least give me a little more time to brew some ideas I've had a little further, which is always a plus. At this point, I'm thinking the story will be about 7 chapters long, however I may add an epilogue after it's finished. It might actually end up a little longer than even that, if I find myself doing any more "mini-chapters" to keep the flow up. We'll see what happens!

And for those of you who don't speak German, "Ich rieche speck" is "I smell bacon", and "feigling" is "coward". ;)

Once again, thank you for reading and sending your reviews, keep a lookout for the next chapter, God bless, and have a good holiday weekend:)


	6. Shut up and dance!

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or any of it's characters.

Ah, I'm finally back to updating! I had a very, very busy holiday weekend, but now I've got time for writing again! I know it's been a while since the last chapter, but the reason it took me so long is that I was having a bad spell of writers' block, but then BAM! A lightning bolt of creative thought blew it away, and I couldn't stop writing! Thank you for being patient though. So, let's cut to the chase and get down to business. On with chapter 6!

* * *

Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Chapter 6 – Just shut up and dance!

"Come on, Toji! Why don't you want to help?" Hikari nagged as she flicked a french-fry at her boyfriend.

"I told you why. I already gave him a nudge, and now the rest is up to him." The Jock responded as he drolly brushed the potato chunk from his shirt.

"Look, I know you don't like Asuka, but she's my best friend. And last I checked, Shinji was one of _your_ best friends. Don't you think we should at least--"

"Oh no you don't, I know where this is going! 'It'd be so convenient if those two would be an item, which is why we need to fix them up!'"

Hikari scowled with frustration. The two had been going on like this for at least half an hour now. It started as a casual dinner at the mall's food-court between two high school sweethearts, but it didn't take long to evolve into a discussion about Asuka and Shinji, and the "unique" relationship they shared. Hikari had expressed desire to help them get together, and from there it quickly degraded into a circular debate over whether or not it was her and Toji's place to meddle with the emotions of their friends.

"Listen, all I'm proposing is that we invite them to go out with us somewhere for Asuka's birthday. They don't even need to know it's a date." She said calmly, trying to keep face.

"Ugh. I'm not getting out of this, am I?" Toji mumbled as he chewed his burger, and Hikari grinned hopefully.

"So, are you going to help?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But if She-devil finds out what we're up to, I want _you_ to take the heat for it."

Hikari's smile brightened as she leaned over the table, moving her face close to Toji's. She then placed a warm kiss on the boy's lips, which seemed to make him very happy.

"That's what I want Asuka and Shinji to have." Hikari said softly in Toji's ear, to which he merely smiled and nodded.

Once they finished lunch, they began heading out of the food court with their arms wrapped together, as they usually did.

"So, where do you think we should take Asuka and Shinji?" asked Hikari. "And don't bring up the amusement park-- Last time Asuka had a date there, it didn't end well."

"Yeah, a date I'll bet _you_ set her up on." Toji snickered. Hikari didn't think it was very funny though, partially because it may have been just a _little_ too close to home for her. Toji took note and decided not to dwell on it. "So, uh-- Maybe a movie then? I seem to remember you clutching me pretty good when we watched Aliens." He grinned.

"I don't think anything would scare Asuka after all that _she's_ been through." Hikari shook her head. "However, there _is_ this really nice looking romantic drama coming out soon…"

"Ugh! You want to poison us with a chick-flick?" The jock groaned.

"Hey, it's better than watching _Shinji_ clinging to _Asuka_ and getting her PO'd for two hours."

"Hmm… I'm not so sure about that…" Toji grinned, as he pondered this amusing mental image.

"Anyway, we can go somewhere nice for dinner afterwards, so I'd better not hear you making stupid noises in the theater if that's what we end up doing." Hikari said with a hint of warning. Toji simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Dinner sounds okay, I guess."

Then, as if by fate, they saw the male subject of their conversation in a small shop less than ten yards from where they had been eating.

"Well now, if it isn't young Mr. Ikari himself." Hikari pointed. "Let's go see what he's up to."

* * *

Shinji sighed and rubbed his forehead, as he looked at the selection of necklaces behind the glass counter. He was attempting to find a gift for Asuka, but he wasn't really sure what he was looking for. He knew he didn't want something so extravagant that she'd feel reluctant to accept it, but at the same time he didn't want something so casual that she'd end up forgetting he even gave it to her, like with last year's gift. _No way am I buying her another videogame, even if she did like it. _He recalled. 

But, in truth, he really just wanted thank Asuka for being so nice to him recently. She had been giving him swimming lessons almost every day for the last month, and even though her training routines had been very hard at first, Shinji was really glad to be spending more time with her, and he was feeling a lot better about himself now that he was learning to cope with his fear. He wanted to give her something that would be able to say that, without being too obvious.

"So, considering going for the gangsta look, or birthday shopping?" A familiar male voice said from behind.

"Toji?" Shinji's head turned, and saw the star athlete and his girlfriend at the store entrance. "Uh, yeah. I'm trying to figure out what to get for Asuka." He couldn't help notice Hikari's face light up, and assumed this was probably her territory.

"Well, first of all, do you know about birthstones?" asked Hikari.

"Um, a little. Not a lot though." Shinji shrugged.

"Well if you want something personal, you should look for something that's got Asuka's birthstone. Since she was born in July, that means her birthstone is a ruby." Hikari informed him.

"R-rubies? I'm not Bill Gates! How am I supposed to afford rubies?" Shinji stammered nervously.

"Relax Shinji, you can just get imitation ones and it'll be just as nice. Now, let's have a look around." Hikari said in a relaxed tone. Toji simply rolled his eyes. _I didn't have to buy _you_ a 10,000 yen piece of rock and metal to be _my_ girlfriend._

About a half hour later, Shinji had made a selection that he was satisfied with. It was a gold necklace with a small dangling chain of two cubic zirconias, that Shinji believed would compliment Asuka's neckline very nicely. Also, two gems seemed like a very logical choice, considering Asuka was the Second Child and the pilot of Eva Unit 02. _Not to mention that red is already her favorite color…_ He ended up spending a little more than he had originally planned, but he was very pleased with the selection and was looking forward to giving it to her. Soon, the velvety box was gift wrapped, and Shinji was on his way out with his two friends.

"So Shinji… Toji and I were hoping that maybe, if you're up to it, the three of us could take Asuka out for dinner and a movie in two weeks." Hikari said.

Shinji was a little hesitant to respond, because he wasn't quite sure what Hikari was up to. Toji and Asuka had disliked each other since the day they met, so he was clearly being coaxed into this. Something was going on, but fortunately for Hikari, Shinji was clueless enough not to press on it.

"That sounds nice… Will it be casual, or formal?" he asked, a little reluctantly.

"Semi-casual. You won't need a tie, but you should still dress up a little."

Shinji simply nodded, and the three kept walking until Shinji had reached the mall entrance.

"Well, see you later guys." He said as the automatic doors slid open. After he'd left, Hikari turned to Toji with an excited grin on her face.

"Yes! I told you this was going to work!" she giggled with delight, to which Toji let out a muffled sigh. "Now, we've got a lot of planning to do, but first thing's first…" she grabbed Toji by the arm and started pulling him back through the mall.

"Great, what is it now?" he mumbled.

"Well, I'm going to need an outfit, aren't I?" his girlfriend smiled back. _Great. I should've known it's impossible to go to the mall with a girl without having to carry bags. _He scowled.

* * *

When Shinji got home, he was glad that Hikari had been there to give him advice when she was, or Asuka would have probably started wondering what was taking him so long by now. He had said he was just going out to pick up laundry detergent and a few random groceries, but this was all just a cover for his real intentions. Thankfully Misato was in on it too, and helped make sure his cover didn't get blown when Asuka questioned why he was going out by himself. 

When he got in, he noticed Asuka in front of the TV playing a videogame as usual.

"Hi Asuka." He said casually as he carried his bags into the kitchen and started putting things away.

"Hey." Asuka mumbled in response as she concentrated on the screen before her.

Being as subtle as he could, Shinji slipped into his room, where he slid Asuka's gift from his pocket and hid it in a box of old homework notes under his bed. He also grabbed his SDAT player, not wanting Asuka to get suspicious. When Shinji actually got back into the living room, he couldn't help but notice how silent the house was, aside from Asuka's game.

"Hey Asuka, where's Misato?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, she said she was going to the city to hang out with the Aobas and Hyuga-san. She probably won't be back for a few hours." She said.

"Oh." Misato had done this two or three times in the last few weeks, so this wasn't much of a surprise to him. But he _was_ surprised when Asuka shut off the game console, and got up to look him in the eye with a smile on her face.

"Get your shoes on. We're going to Kensuke's place." She said, which really caught Shinji off guard.

"Wait a minute—What? I thought you hated Kensuke! Why do you want to go to his house?" Shinji asked, hardly able to believe what he'd just heard.

"Three reasons: one, he's having a party tonight; two, his dad is _loaded_ and has an awesome house; and three, his he happens to be out of town this weekend!" she explained excitedly. "With all that in mind, we might actually be able to have some fun."

"Uh—I don't know. Did you ask Misato?" Shinji asked, a little bit worried about the prospect. Did Kensuke really know what he could be getting himself into?

"I told her we might be going over to Kensuke's house later, and she said it's fine as long as we're home by eleven." Shinji really didn't like where this was going, but knowing Asuka she was going to go anyway, even if it meant leaving him behind. _Darn it Shinji, if there were a time to grow a spine and be the man, this would probably be it._ He kicked himself mentally as the next words came out.

"Eh, okay I guess. But if things get out of control we're going home, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever. Now let's get moving if we want to get there while there's still some food!" She enthusiastically blurted while grabbing Shinji's arm and leading him towards the door. _Oh god, please don't let this be one of those parties that ends with squad cars pulling up…_

* * *

Shinji and Asuka found themselves standing before the front door of the impressive Aida residence, which even after visiting many times, Shinji still felt was intimidating in size. Asuka was much more comfortable with big houses, since she did after all come from a wealthy family herself. What really bugged Shinji was the thumping bass rhythm emanating from the house, which could only mean someone had some _really_ loud music playing in there. Asuka pressed the doorbell button and soon the door swung open—and they saw the face of a classmate that they recognized, but didn't know. 

"Ah, you're Asuka and Shin-whatever-it-was. Come in!" the teenage boy said loudly. He had obviously been having _a_ _lot _of caffine.

Suddenly Shinji found himself in the great room of Kensuke's house, except it looked like it had been turned into a rave club. Blaring through the stereo was a techno remix of some song that he thought he recognized; it was something about some cruel angel thing that Shinji didn't really remember the words to, and it had become fairly popular recently. However, he almost wondered if he should be wearing ear protection since it was so loud. The other guests didn't seem to mind, and were dancing on almost every flat surface in the room.

Then, Shinji spotted Kensuke. The young Aida was running around like a frightened cat, shouting things like "No, don't stand on that!" and "Do you have any idea what my dad is going to do to me?" while trying to prevent his dad's house from being destroyed. Asuka had now joined the mass of dancing teens, so Shinji waded his way through the guests and finally managed to catch Kensuke. They had to shout in order to not have their voices drowned out by the techno music thumping through the room.

"Do you know any of these people?" Shinji yelled.

"Some of them!" Kensuke shouted back.

"How many people did you invite?"

"I put a notice on the school message board! I didn't think this many people would come!"

Shinji slapped his forehead. Didn't Kensuke ever watch TV shows? The un-prepared host's attention quickly went back to the situation at hand, and Shinji was once again by himself. He really didn't like being by himself with a large group, as oxymoronic as it sounded. Crowds made him uncomfortable, especially when it was with people he was un-familiar with, but he decided to brave the sea of dancers and find his redheaded companion.

* * *

Asuka was in the very middle of the room, and in a situation like this she wouldn't have it any other way. She _was_ after all one of the most popular girls in school, and wouldn't be caught dead lingering by herself. She felt several sweaty people bump into her, which annoyed her immensely, but she was still having fun. Then, she saw Shinji struggling through the crowd towards her, looking a bit frightened as he was bumped around buy the throngs of dancers. 

"I don't think I like this!" Shinji shouted into her ear as he reached her. _He just needs to have a little fun, then he won't mind._ Asuka thought. Then, the music changed to a soulful R&B song. The out of control dancers slowed down to the new tempo, to which Kensuke looked very relieved.

"Just shut up and dance!" She said as she grabbed Shinji's hand in hers, and placed the other on her thigh, which made him almost jump out of his skin. _Hehe…He's blushing like a tomato._ She amusingly thought as the two began to dance.

To her knowledge, Shinji had never actually danced before, their battle against the seventh angel not withstanding. And yet despite his initial awkwardness, he seemed to keep up rather well, and eventually, he actually seemed like he was enjoying it. Asuka could feel his palm getting sweaty in hers, but reminded herself that they _were_ in a room full of people dancing, and it was the beginning of July. _Really, who _wouldn't_ be sweating right now?_ Still, she enjoyed the effect that the dance was having on her Japanese friend nonetheless. He must've been having an effect on her too, or else she wouldn't be slow dancing with him while half the school was present.

The song came to it's end, and Shinji wiped his sweaty hair away from his forehead, and he had a bit of a nervous look on his face.

"I'm going to get something to drink." He shouted to Asuka as another loud techno beat began.

"Come on, stay for another song!" She shouted back, but Shinji shook his head and left. Feeling a little disappointed, Asuka decided she needed some air, and was soon pushing her way out of the dance pit.

* * *

Asuka found herself in Kensuke's back yard next to the pool, which was surrounded by a thick hedge. The music was nothing but a muffled beat behind her, and she breathed in deeply as she leaned on a rail, looking out towards the city lights. She was really enjoying herself tonight, and she hoped that Shinji was as well. She knew he sometimes got scared in settings like this, but when she was with him, and especially when she _danced_ with him, he seemed to be a bit less shy. _And why haven't _you_ been acting as rambunctious or hard as you usually do when you're near him? He's affecting you, too. But why does he seem to get nervous when you get close? Why does he pull away? Is he afraid or something?_

"I didn't expect to see _you_ alone tonight…" said the familiar voice of a teenage boy, but it didn't belong to the one in her thoughts. She turned around and saw Greg Korusaki, who this fall would be a senior, and most likely a star member of the varsity basketball team. He had a _very_ strong reputation amongst the girls of the school, and it wasn't hard to understand why. He was tall, dark, handsome, and probably had a good future ahead of him. Asuka had talked to him on occasion in the past, and he seemed like a pretty nice guy. But she was never particularly interested in him; she knew that her heart was set on someone else.

"Oh, Greg… I was just—thinking." She said sheepishly. Greg leaned up on the rail beside her, and a cool smile came to his face. He was part European, and it felt pretty different to be around a boy who was noticeably taller than her for a change.

"What about? Because I think I can guess." Greg said in an understanding tone.

"Well… someone I know, that's all."

"Relationship stuff, right?" He smiled. Asuka was surprised that he'd think to bring that up, but then again he was older then her, and probably knew a lot about these things.

"Yeah..." With this admission, Greg gave her a cool smile.

"I know all about relationships, Asuka… And, I'm _guessing_ you're in one that's not exactly going anywhere. Am I right?" It was like he was reading her mind.

"I guess you could say that…"

Greg relaxed a little and looked her in the eyes.

"You know, Asuka—When a relationship looks like it might be reaching a dead end, sometimes you have to take a detour."

"What exactly do you mean?" Asuka asked curiously.

"I mean, I think it's time for you to move on." He said calmly and rested his hand on hers. This startled Asuka a little, and her first instinct was to withdraw her hand and use it to slap him, but she ignored her impulse and instead braced herself for what he said next.

"I know you're a virgin, Asuka." She jumped back at this, but Greg simply smiled and kept his cool. "Don't worry, it's not something to be ashamed of. You're waiting until that one special person comes along who you can share yourself with, right?"

"Yes." Asuka couldn't believe what a personal conversation she was having, but for some reason Greg made her feel comfortable enough to go along with it.

Greg looked her in the eyes again, and took her hand once more.

"Asuka, I've been watching you for a long time now. On the day we met, I looked in your eyes and saw loneliness, but I also saw what a beautiful soul you had." He paused and deepened his gaze. "Whoever it is you give yourself to is going to be the luckiest man alive." Asuka had wanted to hear words like these for so long, and even though this was not the boy she had wanted to hear them from, her mind was momentarily lost in her sense of longing-- it even for a moment entertained the idea that she was hearing this form someone else-- _that_ someone else…

"I want us to be together, Asuka. And I want you to feel like the woman that you are." He said softly into her ear, which made her heart start to beat rapidly. By now, Greg's hand was migrated from her hand to her lower back, but Asuka was almost too lost in the moment to notice. Greg's face leaned in closer and closer to hers, their lips hovering mere centimeters apart. But then Asuka felt something… The fingers of Greg's free hand had started to slide beneath the hem of her shirt to explore her abdomen, and had started moving north. Suddenly, she could hear every sex talk she ever had with Misato ringing in her ears at full volume. She knew this wasn't right.

"Wait, we shouldn't be doing this." She said, her reason returning.

"It's okay if you're scared, Asuka. But there's nothing shameful about this; it's just part of becoming an adult." He said softly as he held her. He seemed to mature, so wise-- And yet so superficial and full of deceit.

_What are you doing? Who does this guy think he is touching you like this? Were you about to share your soul with a boy you hardly know, just because he can say pretty words that make you feel good? You really want _this one_ in your head for the rest of your life? And what about Shinji? Is he suddenly nothing to you? You were just going to throw all of that out the window, and jump on the sex bandwagon?_ As Asuka's head pounded with this rapid self-interrogation, her sense of inhibition and self-control came rushing back.

"Stop, I don't want--" Her words were interrupted when Greg's mouth covered hers. Before Asuka could even think to pull back, he was giving her a kiss-- the deepest one she had ever been given.

_End chapter_

* * *

Whoa! So what the heck is going to happen with Asuka? And what's up with this Greg guy? I'm sorry I had to leave this chapter on such a cliffhanger, but I decided to split this chapter in half, because it was just getting _too freakin' long!_ Don't worry, by the time you read this Chapter 7 will probably be almost finished and well on its way, because it was, as I said before, originally the second half of chapter 6. Chapters 6 and 7 are a bit more serious in tone than the rest of the story, but don't worry, I'll be getting lighthearted again soon enough. And to think that I was originally going to make this be a filler chapter, HAH! 

Thanks for reading, please try to drop me some reviews, stay tuned for the next chapter, and God Bless!


	7. I won't be like you

Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Disclaimer! I don't own anything!

Thanks to everyone who read the previous chapter! As I said before, this chapter was originally the second half of Chapter 6, and was almost finished by the time I submitted that one. But it quickly became obvious that it was going to be way too long to be a single chapter, so I decided "What the heck, I'll cut it in half." Looks like I'll be going for a total of 9 chapters when all is said and done! Thanks for the reviews, by the way! I had a chance to read most of them before I finalized this chapter, and while I haven't made any _major_ modifications, I was glad to have some idea what people thought before sending this one out. Thank you again! Now, on with the chapter!

* * *

Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Chapter 7 – I won't be like you

Shinji had just finished pouring himself some orange soda into a large plastic cup at the snack table, and being thoughtful he decided to grab some Dr. Pepper for Asuka, since it was one of her favorite drinks. When he went back to the dancing area though, he didn't see her… Since she was the only redhead in their school, possibly even the whole city, she would have been easy to spot.

"Hey, have you seen Asuka Langley anywhere?" Shinji asked a beefy kid, whom he was pretty sure was one of Toji's teammates.

"Oh, I think she went out by the pool." He said with a deep voice.

"Oh, thanks." He responded cheerfully.

He was soon out the back door and walking along the wall-like hedges near the pool, when he heard voices coming from the other side. He knew that one of them belonged to Asuka, but who was the boy she was talking to? It sounded like they were having a somewhat intimate conversation. And although he didn't want to admit it, he was feeling a little jealous at the moment. He decided to proceed cautiously by the hedge and find out what exactly was going on. _Asuka likes _me,_ right? She's not going to jump into the arms of some other guy after all this, is she?_ He had to believe it. He was near the corner of the hedge, and the two subjects of his eavesdropping were right behind it.

_Wait a minute, are they talking about _sex His mind began to race. Then, he heard Asuka say something in an almost frightened voice.

"Wait, we shouldn't be doing this."

"It's okay if you're scared, Asuka. But there's nothing shameful about this; it's just part of becoming an adult." The male voice said, and Shinji's mind painted a picture of a smug-faced, libido-driven jackass.

"Stop, I don't want--" Asuka sounded like she was almost pleading, and then was cut off. Was this guy _forcing himself on her?_ Shinji decided it was time to look at what was happening, so he peeked his face around the corner, even if he knew what he saw might be something painful. And it was.

Gregory Korusaki, high-school superstar, was kissing Asuka Langley; the girl that Shinji loved, and the person who had given him his first kiss. He wasn't even sure if he was still holding the drinks in his hands anymore, but he honestly didn't care. He felt shattered.

Suddenly, Asuka shoved him away and slapped him in the face!

"No! I am _not_ doing that!" Asuka sneered venomously.

A rush of relief started flowing through Shinji's veins, but it was qucikly replaced by more anger, now that his suspicions about Greg's intentions had been confirmed.

"Asuka, don't you realize how lucky we are to have each other? I thought you wanted to grow up?" Greg tried to keep his cool, but he was obviously getting impatient.

Asuka began to storm away, but Greg grabbed her shoulder and pulled her towards him, and Shinji could feel his hand twitching as blood pumped rapidly through his arm. He had finally reached boiling point.

"She said _no,_ you hentai!" he shouted as he stepped into full view. Greg's attention turned to Shinji, and looked a little surprised to find out they were being watched.

"Stay out of this, Ikari." Greg glared at him.

Even though Shinji could not deny jealousy being a factor, it was far outweighed by his anger. This piece of trash was going to make Asuka do something that she didn't want to, and it made him furious. He knew how his type operated… Butter up a young, 'inexperienced' girl with everything that's worked before, and then take their virginity and run. And Toji had told him all about Greg—about how he could never be in the same locker room as him without having to listen to one of his frequent boasts about how many girls he managed to deflower. He was a filthy scoundrel, and he wanted Asuka_—Shinji's friend _Asuka to be his next tally mark, even if she wasn't willing. Shinji felt like he was going to pop at any moment.

"Look little man, I don't want a fight. Just leave us alone and go back inside." Greg glared at him. Shinji flew at him with his fist clenched, but Greg grabbed him, threw him into the ground, and delivered a hard kick into his side!

"So, you figure that if you beat me up, she won't want me anymore, is that it?" Greg asked rhetorically as Shinji tried to re-collect himself. Greg simply laughed, but then Shinji threw his fists into his chest, and shouted something that shook Asuka to her bones.

"_I won't be like you, Gendo!"_

Shinji was stronger than Greg had expected, but he decided he'd had enough of this. He grabbed Shinji's shirt and punched him in the face, sending him flying backwards. He landed on the ground with a thud, and he could feel a small stream of blood trickling from his nose. Greg sneered at the beaten heap at his feet with malice, and sent another kick to his ribs, which in addition to the physical pain, was having a bad effect on his pride.

"I don't know what you get out of calling me that, but in all honesty I don't care, because I'm going to shove it all back down that scrawny little throat of yours." Greg growled as he cracked his knuckles. But something happened that he did not anticipate. From behind, Asuka sent a hard kick straight to his crotch that made his knees buckle, then grabbed his shirt collar and sent several hard punches into his stomach, causing his eyes to bulge out of their sockets! She wasn't satisfied yet though, so she used the free hand to grab his belt, and sent him flying into the swimming pool with a hefty throw. She stared down at the pathetic piece of garbage as he struggled to maintain his buoyancy.

"If you _ever_ touch me, or _any_ other girl like that again, then you can kiss 'the family' goodbye!" Asuka growled as she made a crushing gesture with her fist, which cast a look of horror on Greg's face. She helped Shinji up from the ground, and the two went back into the house.

* * *

After getting Shinji a tissue to stop his nosebleed, Asuka stormed over to the surge protector of Kensuke's entertainment center—the source of the noise—and pulled the plug. The room was suddenly quiet, and everyone looked over in her direction with confusion on their faces. 

"The party is over! Go home, _now_!" she shouted firmly through the entire room, and then looked at Kensuke. "And Kensuke, next time you have a party, either make it _invitation only,_ or hire a bouncer!"

The guests let out depressed mumbles as they filed out the front door, and Shinji and Asuka soon followed.

As they walked down the street to the train station, Shinji couldn't help but notice that he was feeling incredibly sore in the places where Greg had hit him. He moaned with displeasure as he rubbed the bruises.

"When we get home, you need to take a hot bath and get some rest."

"Yeah, okay."

"And Shinji—I'm sorry about tonight. We shouldn't have been there at all, and I promise that I'll take the heat from Misato when we tell her."

Hearing this made Shinji think worlds more of Asuka than he ever had before. She was showing and unusually high level maturity, and the fact that she was even planning to _tell_ Misato rather than letting her find out by herself showed that she was definitely changing for the better. He only wished it hadn't taken something as stupid as an out-of-control teen party to bring this quality out.

However, Asuka still had a burning question on her mind, which she didn't really want to bring up just yet. _Shinji, why did you call Greg 'Gendo'?_

* * *

Misato sighed happily as she pulled up in the driveway of her lake house, and turned off the engine. Her evening with Shigeru, Maya, and Makoto had been very enjoyable, and she couldn't help but feel a little excited. The night had started with Makoto bringing them to a new exhibit at his favorite art museum, which was a showcase of artwork, weapons, and armor of medieval Japan. Misato wasn't extremely interested at first, but Makoto had made a very good tour guide, and did a good job keeping the experience interesting. _He's actually pretty cute when he gets off on a tangent…_ After they'd all eaten dinner, Misato decided to try something… She asked Makoto if he'd ever been to a techno club, to which he said no. It wasn't long before they were both at one, and Misato was teaching him all of her favorite dance moves. "_That was a lot of fun. Let's do this again sometime."_ She told him before they went their separate ways. Misato had known that there was someone fun underneath Makoto's computer nerd exterior—he just needed someone to bring it out. 

Now, she was back in her own house, with her two teenage wards no doubt home from Aida's house by now. After all, it _was_ 11:05. She swung the door open to step inside, and looked down at PenPen.

"Hey little buddy, what's up?" She smiled, but the penguin's face suddenly went ghost white, and he ran to his fridge and locked himself in. _Huh, I wonder what's eating him?_ She shrugged. She entered the living room and saw Shinji and Asuka sitting there. But she was alarmed to see that Shinji's arm and face were bruised, and that he had an icepack on his abdomen!

"What on God's green earth happened to Shinji?" She shrieked. Asuka looked up at Misato with a face that she didn't like… It was a face that said 'what I'm about to say is either going to be a really big lie, or something you don't want to hear.'

"There was a _party_ at Kensuke's, and I didn't tell you. Shinji didn't want to go, but I talked him into it. When we got there some pervert tried to take advantage of me, and Shinji came to defend me; but in the process he got beaten up." Asuka said, trying her best to maintain her composure. Misato's jaw dropped. There was so much going on that she didn't know how to react, but there was one thing in particular that she just had to ask first.

"Why did you do this? Do you know how much it hurts me to know that after putting my trust in the two of you, you would turn around and go to an un-supervised party and let this happen?" She scolded furiously with sadness in her voice.

"I told you, it wasn't Shinji's fault! I made him go, and it's my fault that he got hurt!"

Misato let out a loud groan and rubbed her forehead.

"Shinji, I want you to go outside, sit in my car with the door closed, and listen to your tape player for a few minutes. Me and Asuka need to have a _girl talk._" Shinji nodded, did as he was told and was soon out of the house. Then, Misato sat down next to Asuka and prepared for the worst of it.

"Okay, now tell me what happened."

* * *

Asuka told Misato the whole story—How she was alone thinking about Shinji when Greg started seducing her, the awful "sex advice" he tried to throw at her, how he tried to force himself on her when she backed out… And how Shinji was there to stand up for her, only to be defeated, at which point she took things into her own hands and kicked Greg's ass. She looked absolutely miserable the whole time she spoke, which Misato felt was a good indicator that she was being truthful.

"Now, when Greg talked to you… How did he make you feel? I want you to be completely honest." Misato asked in as comforting a tone as she could.

"I felt… Confused. He told me things that I wanted to hear, but even though he wasn't the person I was hoping to hear them from, I felt drawn in…" Asuka recalled in shame. "I let go of my inhibitions, but by the time I got them back he was feeling me up!" she angrily spat.

"Is that when he tried to--"

"Don't worry, he didn't get that far."

Misato slumped into her seat and rubbed her eyes. It was 11:26, and although she didn't want to keep Shinji waiting, she wasn't done yet.

"It sounds to me like 'Greg' has had a lot of experience. That's why he was so charming and seemed to know just the right things to say—because he's probably done this many times before, but with girls who were more willing or desperate for affection. During my generation, we called people like him 'vampires'." Asuka nodded as a tear started welling up in her eye, but she did her best to remain strong.

"What scares me though, is that before he tried to force me, part of me _wanted_ to go along with it. I _have_ tried to grow up too fast, and Greg played off of the part of me that still thinks that I can by having--" the tear finally escaped and rolled down Asuka's cheek. It was _very_ difficult for her to be this open about something so personal, but she didn't want to keep it bottled up anymore. She _had_ to talk about it. Misato wrapped her arm around her in a comforting manner, and pulled her closer.

"It's okay Asuka, and I'm proud of you for pushing away." Misato said as she squeezed Asuka's shoulder. "When I was younger, I was _a lot_ like you; and I made a lot of mistakes that I _never_ want to see you make. When I was dating Kaji in college, I was a lot more intimate with him than I should have been, and when we broke up I had to accept the fact that I'd always be partially attached to him. Sometimes, I wonder if things would have turned out differently if we had taken things slower, but it's too late for that now."

"Misato, I—didn't know…"

"My mother used to tell me 'They won't buy the cow if they can get the milk for free', but I never believed her until the damage had already been done. Opening yourself up to the wrong person is one of the worst mistakes a girl can make, but you had the resolve not to, and that's what made Greg angry."

"Misato, I promise that I won't do anything so irresponsible _ever_ again. And I'm sorry that I even went to that _stupid_ party in the first place!"

"Just remember this though; I'd rather you have this experience now, and make the _right_ choice—than for you to have it later, and make the wrong one. Tonight you were tested, and you made the right call." And with that, Misato tightened her embrace and gave the top of Asuka's head a motherly kiss.

"I love you Asuka, and I don't want you to get hurt. Tomorrow we can go to the police station and file a report about Greg. This is going to go on his record."

Asuka nodded as Misato's embrace ended.

"Misato, there is one more thing…"

"What?"

"When Shinji was hitting Greg-- he called him by his dad's name by mistake, and shouted that he didn't want to be like him." Asuka said with her head hung low. "Why do you think he'd do that?"

Misato closed her eyes and rubbed them with her hands. _God, why did I have to be the one to tell her?_

"There were a lot of things about Commander Ikari that Shinji has been ashamed of, and I'm not talking about his leadership decisions…" Misato began, and Asuka raised an eyebrow.

"Was he a--"

"A philanderer. Yes, he was."

It was starting to make sense.

"For how long? Did he start before, or after Shinji lost his mother?"

"I don't know, and I'm not sure how many women he saw. But I know that Ritsuko and her mother were among them."

"Wh-what? He shagged _both_ of them?" Asuka's jaw dropped.

"Yes. And-- he tried to put the moves on _me_ once, too." Misato said with embarrassment. "I told him to back off though."

Asuka was disgusted with what she was hearing. As if her and Shinji didn't have enough reason to hate that bastard to begin with, now she had to know that he'd screwed half of NERV's female employees! It was now no wonder to Asuka why Shinji was reluctant about getting close to her; he was afraid that he might end up using and hurting her, like his father did to the women in _his_ life.

"Poor Shinji… When do you think he found out?"

"I don't know, and I'm not going to speculate. I've probably already said more than I should have, and if you want the rest you're going to have to ask Shinji."

Asuka thought for a moment, and then made up her mind.

"That baka isn't his father, I don't care what he thinks!" She said firmly as got up and went to the door. "I'm going to talk to him."

* * *

Shinji had been sitting behind the wheel of Misato's car for about 20 minutes now, listening to his SDAT just like he was told to. The blinds weren't drawn so he could see inside, but he couldn't really figure out what his two female housemates might have been talking about from their body language. He saw them hugging and Misato giving Asuka a kiss on the head, so things probably weren't going too badly. A few minutes later, Asuka had come out of the front door, and Shinji's eyes went straight to the lake to divert suspicion. Asuka had soon walked up to the passenger door and opened it.

"Can I join you?" she asked. Shinji took out his ear buds and shut off the tape player.

"Sure." He said casually. Asuka slid inside and shut the door, and the two simply looked out at the lake and waxing moon for a moment.

"Some hero I turned out to be, huh?" Shinji sarcastically mumbled with a frown.

"What? Is that all you've been thinking about this whole time?" an annoyed Asuka questioned.

"I was over confident, got my butt kicked, and then _you_ ended up having to save_ me_. You didn't need my help; all I did was make you feel sorry for me."

"You think it matters whether or not I could handle it on my own? What matters to me is that _you_ were brave enough to stand up to that douche bag and defend _my_ honor!"

Shinji remained quiet for a moment. _It's now or never._ Asuka thought.

"What did you mean when you called Greg 'Gendo'?" Shinji was startled by this question, but he had been thinking about the answer for a while. He knew it would only be a matter of time before Asuka asked him. "I know that you were drawing parallels between them. If you want to talk about it, I'll listen."

"I--I've always been afraid that my father somehow lives on through me-- and that someday he's going to take over. Greg kind of reminded me of him, and I guess it all sort of came spilling out-- I wanted to tell my father how much I hated him."

"Shinji, I don't care if the Commander was a womanizer. In fact I don't care about anything he did, because _he's not you. _Gendo wouldn't lift a finger to help another person unless there was something in it for him, but you aren't anything like that. You're—special." Asuka said as she rested her hand on Shinji's shoulder. "And tonight, you proved it." Then, she leaned over to Shinji's cheek and gave it a soft kiss, and smiled warmly. "You're a hero in _my_ book, and that's your reward." Asuka felt kind of silly saying this, but she was glad that she hadn't backed out. Shinji really needed to hear it.

"Th-thank you." Shinji said with a blush.

"Your father has been dead for two years, Shinji. If you keep filling your heart with hate, then someday that'll be all you can feel. It's time to bury him."

"I _want _to. It's still hard for me, but I'll try." Shinji agreed with his head hung low.

Asuka gazed out at the lake again, and the small island that was the goal of the swimming lessons she had been giving to Shinji. It looked beautiful, and she was glad that it was Shinji who she was sharing it with.

"The island looks closer tonight than it ever has before, doesn't it?" Asuka asked.

"Yeah, I guess it does."

"One of these days, we're _both_ going to be there, and you're going to be proud of yourself."

"I hope so."

From there, the residents of the Katsuragi household retired to their rooms to get some much-needed sleep. Despite Misato's worries about her children, she slept soundly knowing that they had both taken some very important life lessons away from this experience, even though she was still upset that they had to learn them under the circumstances that they did. They were growing up, and learning to make the right choices was part of that process.

_It's definitely high time I laid out some new rules, though. They might be growing up, but I'm still their guardian, and it's my job to make sure that they're safe no matter what._

_End Chapter_

* * *

Another day, another chapter finished. My intention was never to turn this into a rape fic, or a typical "Shinji saves the day" scenario, because I usually hate both of those. I also kind of felt like I was walking a delicate line with Misato's discussion with Asuka, because I wanted it to be effective, but I didn't want to go too far and make it feel preachy, since it is a somewhat sensitive subject.

I felt like this and chapter 6 were necessary though, because I wanted to show Shinji and Asuka's personalities maturing and have some drama involved with it. "Shinji saves Asuka from a perv" has been done plenty already, and I really wanted to put a different spin on it since I felt it was what the story needed. I hope that you enjoyed these two chapters for what they were, because I wasn't originally planning anything this elaborate for chapter 6 (which ended up becoming two chapters).

Next chapter is going to be going back to more of the light-hearted approach I had with the earlier chapters. I estimate that we're down to just two more, and then I'll be calling this fic a wrap, unless I make an epilogue later. I've already got them mostly planned out, so I'll be sure to start writing soon!

Thank you for reading, keep your heads up for Chapter 8, please keep sending your reviews, and God bless!


	8. Sleeping Beauty

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion. If you think I do, you're nuts!

Hello again, and thank you for stopping by to check up on my fic! Sorry it's taken so long, but I've been _extremely _busy with work these past few weeks, and I've hardly had any free time that I could devote to my writing until just recently. But now I'm making an effort to work on it more, so please don't think I've forgotten about it! Thanks for all the reviews you guys have sent in the meantime, they've been a real encouragement! And now, without further delay, Chapter 8!

* * *

Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Chapter 8 – Sleeping beauty

"_The island looks closer tonight than it ever has before, doesn't it?" Asuka asked._

"_Yeah, I guess it does." Shinji shrugged._

"_One of these days, we're both going to be there, and you're going to be proud of yourself."_

"_I hope so."_

_They gazed out at the moonlit lake for another few moments in silence. Then, Asuka opened the door on her side of the car and started to step out. Before heading back to the house, she looked back at Shinji and gave him a slightly nervous smile._

_"Not that it really matters, but—I think you must take more after your mother, because you're much better looking than your father." A look of bashfulness came over her once she'd spoken, and she quickly turned away to hide her blush. "Well, I'm going to go to bed. I'll talk to you in the morning." She closed the door and started back for the house, leaving Shinji alone to his thoughts for a moment._

It'd been about a week since he and Asuka came home from Kensuke's out-of-control house party, and several nights since then, Shinji found himself going over the conversation that he shared with her that night while he slept.

He reached to touch his face, and felt the spot where Greg had bruised him during his fight. He had been relieved when Misato told him it would probably be healed by the end of the week, and he could tell that the swelling had reduced considerably. However, that thought also reminded him of the new house rules that had gone into effect. In addition to always having to inform Misato of exactly where they were going, if Shinji and Asuka were going out after 6 PM, they had to call her via cell phone every hour so she could check up on them. The exception would be for movie theaters—after all, Misato herself had been known to throw a soda or two when she heard talking during a movie, which on at least one occasion resulted in violence.

They had both been grateful that Misato had gone as easy on them as she had, and that the biggest of their troubles would be an enforced 10 PM curfew, and not a major grounding… Especially since it would likely have interfered with a certain birthday celebration for a certain blue-eyed German.

Before he went back to sleep, he checked to make sure his sketch book was where he'd left it, since he was going to need it in the morning. He scooped it up and flipped through its pages momentarily, coming to an un-finished work. It was so dark he had to strain his eyes just to see, but it still brought a smile to his face. He sincerely hoped that tomorrow he wouldn't loose his nerve, and chicken out.

"Hmm… Tomorrow… Mustn't run away…" He mumbled after placing the book back on his nightstand. Then, he rolled over and went back to sleep.

* * *

The next morning when he came into the kitchen, he saw a well-rested Asuka once again wearing her sports bra and running shorts. She gave Shinji a bright smile and took a sip from her UCG coffee can. 

"Good to see you up, sleepy head! We've got more training to do today once you're out of the bathroom!" she said as she downed the last mouthful from the aluminum can, and slammed it on the table to crush it. She really was becoming more like Misato every day—in some ways that Shinji would prefer she didn't.

"I wish you and Misato wouldn't do that thing with the can. The rings you two leave are going to be a real pain to get out of the table!" Shinji said while shaking his head.

"Who cares, this thing is a piece of junk. Besides, Misato said she's probably going to replace it anyway. Might as well have some fun abusing it while we can!" Asuka then smirked childishly as she kicked the table leg with her foot, making the whole thing jerk and knocking over the spice shakers.

"Maybe we wouldn't have to if you girls weren't so rough with it." Shinji said while shaking his head. Asuka gave him another bratty smile and tossed her crushed coffee can into the nearby recycling bin, making a satisfying 'clunk' sound as it mingled with the others.

"Well, you know the drill. I'll see you outside when you're dressed." Asuka said as she walked to the back door, but she stopped when Shinji's voice spoke up.

"Um, actually Asuka—I had an idea for something a little different today." Asuka raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. "There was someplace I was thinking maybe we could jog to, if you want. We'd need to have breakfast first since we might be out a while." He paused briefly. "I asked Misato last night, and she said she was fine with it."

Asuka was surprised that Shinji himself was offering to break from routine, but after doing mostly the same thing for over a month, the idea of trying something a little different was appealing to her. And if Shinji thought wherever he wanted to go was worth going out of his way to show her, then it may well be worth a look.

"Sure, I guess I can throw together some yogurt and granola. That should be light enough not to weigh us down."

Shinji smiled happily. Asuka rarely made breakfast, even for herself. And while her offering was hardly eggs benedict and fresh squeezed juice, Shinji still appreciated her giving him a break for once. Plus, it'd give him a moment to gather the things needed for what he had planned.

Once Shinji was out of the bathroom and wearing his exercise clothes, he joined Asuka at the table where they ate together. After they'd finished, they got up and Asuka started heading for the door again.

"Hang on a sec, I'm just gonna grab my backpack." Shinji said.

"Whatcha got in there?" Asuka asked curiously.

"Just some sports drinks, my phone, and some other stuff." Shinji answered with a shrug. Asuka wasn't really interested enough to press for details, so she didn't bother. He darted into his room and came back with the pack over his shoulders; then he and Asuka slipped on their running shoes and went outside.

"Well, you know where we're going so…" Asuka hesitated for a moment, because the words that would follow for some reason felt un-comfortable for her. "Take the lead, Ikari." She practically had to force herself to say it, and as a compromise she decided not to use Shinji's first name. In all fairness to Asuka though, even she sometimes struggled to understand her mind's inner workings. And the fact that saying those words made Shinji smile wasn't really helping. Within minutes though, she had let it go and instead focused her thoughts on where Shinji might be taking her.

* * *

Asuka wasn't quite sure how long they'd been jogging for, so she glanced down at her watch and noticed it'd been about fifteen minutes. They were pretty far away from home by now, and Asuka wasn't quite familiar with the trail. However, there were several inclines that they had to scale, so they were probably fairly high up by now. It was pretty nice though—there were lots of trees around providing shade with just a touch of sun peeking through, and morning birds sang their cheerful songs as they passed. They took a turn from the path and went onto the dirt path, and soon came to an opening with cliff which offered a beautiful view of New Yokohama. 

"Well, we're here." He said as he sat himself on a thick cut piece of rock, which was one of many that had been placed a couple yards from the cliff's edge as a barrier. He slipped off his backpack and un-zipped it, then pulled out a neon-colored sports drink which he tossed to Asuka.

"Thanks." She said after catching it, and then twisted the cap off. "So, this is the place you wanted to show me?" she asked before taking a swig of her drink.

"Yeah, I sometimes come here when I need to be alone. It kind of reminds me of somewhere I used to visit back in Tokyo 3, but I think this place has a better view." He answered, and guzzled down some of his own beverage. It really was a nice vista, Asuka couldn't deny. In fact in a way, she almost wished she'd been shown it sooner. As she was taking it in though, she noticed Shinji rummaging through his backpack again.

"I didn't just bring you here to show you the view though…" he said, and then produced his sketchpad from his backpack.

Asuka hovered over his shoulder for a moment as he thumbed through the book as if looking for something. There was an assortment of sketches, many of which were things like dragons, ninjas, and whatever other testosterone-fueled daydreams Shinji may have had, while others were things that she recognized from their life, like friends from school and even a sketch or two of Pen-Pen. She stopped him from flipping momentarily when she noticed one sketch that she felt she had mixed feelings about, one of which was surprise.

"Wait a minute, what is _this_?" She asked interrogatively as she pointed. It was a portrait of Misato, and she was wearing a kimono-like robe—however, 'partially wearing' might have been more accurate, since it was practically falling off, giving a good view of her bare shoulders and cleavage. Shinji looked a little flustered as he tried to give his explanation.

"Uh… well… Misato offered to model for me that time, and the pose was her idea!" he stammered frantically. He was actually fairly proud of that drawing, and considered it one of his better ones—it's just that he hadn't exactly been planning to show it to Asuka.

"Well, it looks… Nice. You really did a good job of capturing her likeness."

Shinji let out a sigh of relief. It always felt good to have his work complimented, but in this case he would have settled just for not being called a pervert.

He thumbed past two more sketches, and came to the one that Asuka presumed he was looking for; it was a beautiful drawing of the city skyline from where they were currently sitting, and even though it was incomplete, it showed a lot of promise. Asuka noticed that there was a relatively large blank space though, like it was waiting for something to be drawn but inspiration never came.

"I've been working on this for a while, but I never really felt happy with it because I always felt like it needed something in the foreground. But I never really had a subject that I could use, so…" Shinji trailed off, like he wasn't sure how to phrase the next part.

"Did you want me to model for you?" Asuka asked candidly.

"Uh, yeah… Would you?" Shinji responded with hope in his voice, and Asuka gave him a pleasant smile.

"Sure, I guess so. But if I'd known before, I would have worn something a little classier!" She joked as she examined her exercise outfit.

"Don't worry, you look great." Shinji chuckled. He pulled out a pencil and a piece of graphite from his bag, and situated himself of a different rock a little further from the cliff's edge, where Asuka assumed he'd drawn the rest of the picture from.

"Now, could you sit on that rock and face to your right?" he asked, and Asuka did so. "And now if you could just put knee up a little…" before he could even finish, Asuka had already struck exactly the pose he had been wanting, with her chin resting on her knee while she gazed outward, with a calm look on her face; she was clearly a natural at this. There was one last thing that was missing though, that Shinji knew he needed to make the scene complete.

"Oh yeah, and if it's not too much trouble… Could you undo your hair?" He asked nervously. Asuka understood his request, but a wily look came over her when she noticed this was a perfect moment to tease Shinji.

"So should I do that before, or after I take my clothes off?" she cooed, which made Shinji's face look akin to a deer staring into car headlights. Then, Asuka let out a series of hard laughs and slapped her knee, and Shinji's face went back to its normal color as he started breathing again.

"Jeez, and you call me a hentai!" He said while wiping a drop of sweat from his hair.

"I'm sorry, you're just too much fun!" Asuka laughed. She finally reached around the back of her head to slip off her hair band, and undid her ponytail. She gave her head a gentle shake, sending her beautiful waist-length locks of red flowing gently in the light breeze. It was perfect, and now all Shinji had to do was get it on paper.

It didn't take long for him to pencil in the rough shapes for Asuka's posing figure, and soon he was drawing the actual details. He didn't notice as the minutes slid by, but Asuka appeared to be very patient, and held her position very consistently. She made for a very good model, even besides the natural beauty she possessed.

Finally, Shinji picked up his graphite and started doing some basic shading, being extra careful to capture the way the light hit Asuka's facial features and skin. It wasn't close to finished, but Shinji knew he'd been drawing for at least half an hour, and he had enough that he could toy around with it more some other time.

"Well, I think I have enough for now. You can move again." He said cheerfully.

"Ooh! Let me see!" Asuka jumped down and ran over to the sketchpad, and was very pleased with what she saw. Shinji had done a truly admirable job, and even though it was still incomplete it showed the makings of an excellent picture.

"Wow, it's like looking into a mirror!" she smiled.

"Heh, thanks. It's not done yet, but I can always pick it up again later." After a moment Shinji closed the sketchpad and re-placed it in his backpack, along with the other items.

"So, can I assume we'll be able to come back for the rest another time?" Asuka asked.

Shinji smirked, and he nodded meekly.

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

He slung his pack over his shoulders, and the two started back down the path to the jogging trail.

"You're really good. Have you ever taken lessons?"

"I learned a lot from books, but I'm mostly self-taught. There's still a lot that I don't know though…"

"Have you considered taking any art courses in college?"

"A little. My main concentration is still cello, but I am interested in expanding my art. Right now I'm only really good with graphite though, so I want to learn about using more mediums."

They had already reached the jogging trail again, but they kept walking at the normal pace for a while, since Shinji wanted to talk a little more.

"So… I know you already have a degree, so what are you planning on doing after high school? You don't talk about it much." He asked.

"Well, I'm not quite sure yet, but I'm interested in going bat to college to get a doctorate. Medical science has been an interest of mine, and I like the idea of being a physician… But, I've also always wanted to learn about psychology."

"Dr. Asuka Langley… It has a good ring to it." Shinji teased. "If I already had a degree, I doubt I'd go for second helpings. If you wanted, you could probably start a career as soon as you turn eighteen, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess I could."

Asuka mostly stayed quiet after Shinji's last comment, looking slightly lost in thought, and a little disappointed at the same time. Shinji didn't see it though, because from what he could tell the conversation had ended, and they were now both jogging again.

_Actually, if I'd never met you, I probably would have just lied about my age and never even bothered going back to high school in the first place…_ Asuka couldn't say these words to Shinji yet though… They meant too much, and for her it was still too soon. It was the truth though—She didn't _need_ to attend high school, just like she didn't _need_ to get a doctorate or master's degree to get a good career. She could have done almost anything she wanted and been a success, but she still wanted to live a normal adolescent life… And Shinji was a major reason for why.

Sure, she cared very deeply for Misato, and her friends at school were okay, especially Hikari… But much of she'd done since NERV closed shop had been for Shinji, even though she often refused to admit it. And deep down, she had been hoping for a long time that when it was time to start college, her and Shinji would be able to rent an off-campus apartment together. Sure, they could just go to separate colleges and get set up in the dorms, but that was just it… She didn't want to be _separated_. She hadn't really thought about the implications of a young girl and boy sharing a home on their own, but she didn't really care. She knew that she wanted to stick with Shinji, even if it wasn't entirely practical.

But it's not like I can just keep following him around… Can I? Even if I do get an apartment with him, what happens after college? We can't keep up the "joined at the hip" routine forever, unless I'm willing to make a serious commitment to him… Wait, does that mean I want— She stopped her thoughts short. She knew where they were going, and reminded herself that it was way too early for her to be thinking that far ahead. Especially since we aren't even an item. Well, not yet, at least—but who knows? We are pretty close, aren't we? Asuka didn't get to finish confronting this thought train however, because before she knew it, they were back at the house.

* * *

When they had gotten home, Shinji noticed that the garage door was open, and could hear Misato's voice uttering several muffled curses from inside, following the clanking sound of a falling tool. She was obviously working on the BMW again. 

"Argh! Pen-Pen, hand me the number six ratchet again!" she grumbled, followed with the hot-spring Penguin's typical response.

"Wark!"

"Tadima!" Shinji said as he and Asuka passed by.

"Oh, hi kids." Their guardian shouted from under the car. "Ow! Son of a--" the rest was inaudible through the sound of metal pounding against metal. Shinji decided it would be safer to be somewhere else, and headed for the front door of the house. Once inside, Asuka turned to look at him.

"Okay, time for your swimming lesson! Go get changed." She told him while pointing to his room. "I'm going to get some stuff for today's practice, so I'll be a few minutes."

Shinji nodded in agreement, and went to his room. He slipped out of his running clothes and put on his trunks, which he had kept within easy access since he'd been using them nearly every day. After spraying on a coat of sun bock, he slung his towel over his shoulder and headed outside to the beach to wait.

He had been waiting for at least five minutes, and started wondering what Asuka had planned that was taking her so long. Finally, she appeared down the path, wearing her red bikini, and had a stopwatch hanging around her neck. In her arms she carried a large inflatable floating lounge cushion, and a blue nylon bag. Shinji frowned and seriously wondered what she was up to.

"You're becoming a very good swimmer, but you still haven't really proven yourself underwater." Said Asuka. She opened the bag and pulled out a set of eight brightly colored plastic rings, and Shinji's scowl deepened.

"What? Those things are for kids!" he protested.

"No they're not! Their purpose is to help you adapt to the underwater environment, which is something you're going to have to do if you're going to be in deep water." Asuka said in a lecturing tone, to which Shinji rolled his eyes.

"Fine. But what's the cushion for?"

"I'm going to be using it while I time you." Asuka waved the stopwatch with her hand, and gave Shinji a wink. "Now let's get in."

They both casually waded through the water until they'd gotten deep enough that their feet no longer touched the bottom. Asuka pulled herself up onto her floating lounge seat, and put her feet up into a reclining position. Then, she reached into the nylon bag and took out the colored rings again.

"Okay, ready?" she asked, and Shinji nodded. She flung the rings a few yards in each direction, and then pressed the button on the watch.

"Go!" She shouted, and Shinji dove under.

He opened his eyes, and tried to orient himself. He still wasn't quite used to seeing underwater, but he soon spotted a pink hoop a few feet in front of him. He swam over and scooped it up, then swam to the surface where he handed it to Asuka. He went back under and started looking for another, and eventually had found the green one. He repeated this process six more times, until he'd finally retrieved all of them. Asuka hit the button on her watch again, and looked down at it.

"Eight minutes? That's terrible! Try again!" she said apathetically from her floating throne, then tossed the rings again and pressed the button once more. "Go!"

Shinji groaned in frustration, and once again was looking for the rings, this time determined to be faster. This time, he tried staying under a little bit longer than before, to see if he could get two rings in a single dive. This proved successful twice, but he was still having a little trouble with his orientation. He surfaced with the last two and handed them to Asuka, who glanced at her timekeeper.

"Six minutes and thirty seconds. Better, but you can still improve. Again!"

This went on for at least half an hour, until finally Shinji had been able to collect all eight rings within only three dives. Asuka looked at her watch one last time.

"Four minutes. I guess that's good enough for now." Asuka gave a satisfied smirk upon seeing the time, and Shinji bowed his head in relief. "Maybe tomorrow I'll have you look for twelve rings." She taunted, which made Shinji scowl. But then, he made a mischievous grin.

"It's easy for you to bark orders when you're high and dry, isn't it? How about a cool off?"

He then splashed some water at her, causing her to jerk angrily.

"Hey! Cut that out, dummkopf!" she shouted as she looked down at the water on her skin, but to her surprise Shinji only laughed. It didn't take her long to realize what he was up to, and soon she had a juvenile grin of her own. "Here, why don't you have some yourself?" she taunted as she flung some water at his face, catching him off guard.

He shook his head and wiped the excess from his eyes, and then sent a counter attack that completely soaked Asuka's face and top, making her eyes shoot open. She flung several more heaps of water at him, but by now Shinji had decided to resort to a more hands-on approach. He grabbed the end of the cushion and sank all of his weight in it, causing Asuka to completely slide off and briefly bump against him.

"Agh! You cheater!" She shouted in a jokingly irate voice, as she shoved herself away from Shinji and started splashing at him more. Now, it had erupted into a full-on water fight.

They continued splashing at each other playfully, with the sounds of water being accompanied by their giggling voices for a couple minutes. Unfortunately, their fun was brought to a halt when they heard Misato shouting.

"Hey, are either of you going to make lunch? I'm starving!" she was standing at the edge of the beach, and had motor oil all over her face and clothes. Shinji could only guess that she had chosen to call a ceasefire in her mechanical war, in which case she'd be very cranky if she didn't get a cold beer and something to eat soon. Shinji let out a sigh, and looked over to her.

"Sure Misato, we'll be right over."

The lavender haired woman smiled at her soaked charges, then turned on her heel and strolled back to the house, leaving Shinji and Asuka alone again.

"Truce?" Shinji asked, holding out his hand.

"Truce. For now, at least." Asuka answered, and shook Shinji's hand with her own. "But you can carry my lounge cushion back." she snickered before releasing Shinji's grip.

Once they were walking up the sandy bank back to the house, Asuka broke the silence by asking Shinji a question.

"So, what have you heard about the place Hikari picked for my birthday dinner?"

"I just know it's an Italian place that serves pasta dishes and seafood. It's semi-upscale, from what I've read about it."

"Sounds nice. But while we're on the subject..." Her sapphire eyes suddenly had a cunning tint to them, and Shinji knew it was time to raise his mental defenses. "What did you get me?"

"You'll find out on your birthday, I told you a million times!" He said while avoiding her stare.

"Fine, maybe I'll just have to tickle the answer out of you!" Asuka snickered as she gave Shinji's side a playful pinch, making him jump with an uncomfortable laugh.

"No! You only have six more days to wait, so just be patient!"

Asuka scowled while crossing her arms, and noticed that they were at the house.

"Aw, you're no fun." She mumbled as Shinji held the door for her, and they both went inside.

* * *

That night, Shinji was sleeping soundly in his room, with his SDAT ear buds in place just as he usually did. However, the gentle stream of classical music didn't stop him from waking up to the sound of his door sliding open. Although it was dark, it wasn't hard for him to recognize that it was Asuka. 

"Asuka?" He whispered while removing his headphones and turning off his SDAT, but he received no answer other than some quiet, incoherent mumbling. _Has she been sleepwalking again?_

The last time she had walked in her sleep, to his knowledge, had been over two years ago, when they were undergoing intense synch training to launch a choreographed attack against the seventh Angel. This situation felt so familiar now, as the memories of that night came rushing back to him. They were sharing a room as part of their training, but since Misato was out the night before their battle, Asuka had went into the next room and slammed the door shut, calling it "the wall of Jericho"… How ironic that choice of words turned out to be, because within an hour the "wall" had come crashing down when Asuka unconsciously came back in the room, and plopped herself into Shinji's bed.

She had been mumbling in her sleep very similarly to the way she was now. Shinji remembered that it was also the first time he had tried to kiss her, but fortunately backed out at the last second. But he was scared, so he ended up leaving Asuka and spending the night in the bed that she'd had left vacant. The next morning, she made no attempt to find out how her and Shinji had switched places, but Shinji had always thought it better than the likely alternative; her waking up wrapped around him, then kicking the snot out of him and calling him a pervert for months. But now, he wasn't quite sure if that's what would have happened if he'd stayed to comfort her.

He looked at Asuka again, who was still mumbling. The two situations were almost identical, and the frightened part of his mind was once again screaming, telling him to either sleep on the couch or try to move Asuka back to her room. But for some reason, the rest of him didn't want to—_She just wants someone to comfort her. It's still only been a few days since "the incident", hasn't it? I guess I can let her stay, just for tonight…_

He carefully lifted the sheet and draped it over both of them, and Asuka moved in closer and snuggled against him. She rested her arm across Shinji's chest, which made his heart hammer in his ribcage, and hr was terrified that if Asuka moved her hand any higher, she was going to feel the vibration and snap awake. After all, this was _Asuka_, his dream girl—in his bed, wearing nothing but some panties and a baggy T-Shirt… and he could feel right through it, since she was pressed against him so closely. Then, Asuka's lonely mumbling stopped, and she let out a peaceful sigh of content as she nestled into Shinji's side.

Shinji could finally feel his heartbeat slowing down, and it wasn't long before he actually felt like he was relaxed. A gentle smile came to his face, and started thinking about how beautiful Asuka was when she was sleeping; her soft angelic features, the subtle but satisfied smile on her mouth… And then, there was her amazingly long hair, which draped over her like a second blanket. For years, Shinji had wanted to run his fingers through it, and tonight decided to take the opportunity while it was avalible. It was even more soft and silky than he could have imagined, and he couldn't resist memorizing the scent.

_Hmm… Figures that she'd smell like strawberries. Everything is red with her, isn't it?_ He smiled again as he gently exhaled.

The last time he remembered feeling this comfortable was almost too long ago to remember-- only that it was before his mother died, when she was holding him in her arms. The feeling of warmth and closeness was the same, but the difference was that this time, the sense of security felt more mutual—like he was giving it back, and not just receiving it. It was much deeper, and he could only imagine what it would feel like if he could openly share his feelings with Asuka someday.

The next day Asuka would probably wake up before him, sneak back into her own room, and pretend that nothing had happened… Or, she'd simply get up unconsciously and sleepwalk back, and have no recollection of it at all. But Shinji was okay with her house-cat like behavior, and decided he wasn't going to bring it up unless Asuka did first. For now, he was happy just to offer her some simple comfort.

His eyes slid shut again, and soon he was dreaming of the sleeping beauty at his side…

End chapter

* * *

Well, finally another chapter is finished. It took me a while to get it out, but I did it! This was somewhat of a transitional chapter, because I wanted to spend a little more time showing Shinji and Asuka getting closer before I get to the final chapters. It took me a while to proofread it enough times, and I had to make several alterations and revisions before I was satisfied with the flow of events. We're getting closer to the finale, and I hope I have the skill to make it enjoyable. I'm hoping to get started on chapter 9 soon, so until then… 

Thanks for reading, please send your reviews, and God bless!


	9. Food, Dancing, and B Movie Kings

_I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters._

_Ich besitze nicht Evangelion oder irgendwelche der seiner Leute._

_私は __新世紀エヴァンゲリオン__を所有しないまたはそれは人々である。_

_(Pardon those terrible translations, if you even care that much to check.)_

Wow, 100 reviews! Thank you to _everyone_ who has kept reading thus far, and thank you for the reviews! It's always nice to know that people are interested in your work.

Yay, finally writing again! Once again work has been murder (Hey Management, remember when I checked the _part-time_ box on the application? I wasn't just kidding around!), but I really felt like writing again because I really want to see this fic finished. This _was_ going to be the second to last chapter, but as with chapters 6 and 7, I found myself having to split it since it was getting way too long to be a single chapter. So lease forgive me if this chapter feels kind of incomplete. Looks like we're going to be going for a total of eleven now, but don't expect it to get stretched out any longer than that. And to think that my original goal was seven to eight chapters!

My original plans for an epilogue are kind of on ice right now, since I already know I'll be getting more than 10 chapters out of this fic already. I might still do one sometime down the road, but I can't make any promises at this point.

But I mustn't get ahead of myself. My current priority is to get this fic finished. Now without further delay, chapter 9!

* * *

Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Chapter 9 – Food, Dancing, and B Movie Kings

There's that state of mind that exists that people experience sometimes while they're asleep-- where they're somewhere between unconsciousness and being awake. For some, the mind wakes up, but the body does not, and the result is a night terror. For others, the body is awake while the mind slumbers, which manifests as sleepwalking. And then there is that one un-common state, where the body and mind are both teetering on the edge of consciousness in nearly equal proportions.

For Asuka, she'd experienced them all at one point or another. Tonight, it had been two out of three, and while a night terror was not among them, she did remember having a rather un-setting dream about herself at some point.

Her eyelids had ever so slightly lifted themselves from her blue orbs, and she could feel a warm presence beneath her. There was a familiar scent, and she remembered that it belonged to that baka—

_No—_My_ baka…_

Her face was nuzzled against his shoulder, and he simply slept contently while she used him like a big pillow.

She could tell that Shinji's arm was around her shoulder and that they were cuddling, but she greatly enjoyed this sensation… It was almost as if Shinji was determined not to let anything bad happen to her during the night, and yet at the same time, she was protecting him as well. _I don't care if he's not very strong…I won't let anything happen to my Shin-chan._ She mused groggily.

It just felt so—_right._ But perhaps that's what concerned her… Her mind was half shut off making her perceive it all as a dream, but being this close to Shinji actually started to make her worry when she started piecing these feelings together.

_This is what I wanted, but I'm not ready yet. I can't do this, there's still so much I need to tell you… I'm sorry Shinji, but this will have to wait._

She slowly shifted her weight out of the bed and wandered back to her own room, where she slipped back into the depths of sleep in the comfort of her own bed. The next morning when she awoke, everything seemed to be in the same order as when she went to bed.

"Strange dream…" she groaned, in an attempt to firmly establish the previous night's happenings as a figment of her imagination.

She yawned and stretched her stiff muscles, but then a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she lay back onto her bed.

"Hmm… Shinji…" She whispered sweetly to no one, and decided she would spend the rest of the morning in a far more pleasant mood than usual.

* * *

Friday…

* * *

"Nah, I wouldn't drag you to a chick flick, they're not really my thing." Asuka said to Shinji, who felt very relieved that the girl's movie preference might be more gender-neutral than he'd expected. 

"Well then… What movie did you pick?" he asked curiously, to which Asuka made a very excited grin.

"It's a black comedy called 'Bollish'." She said with a grin. Shinji only showed a look of confusion, which told Asuka that an explanation was in order.

"Okay… Do you know who Uwe Boll is?"

"Um… Can't say I do, but the name does ring a bell."

"He was a horrible German B-movie director who was among the first people to start pumping out movies after Second Impact. And, he found a loophole in Germany's tax system that ensured he'd come out of every movie with a profit no matter how awful it was, at the taxpayers' expense." The redhead explained with a keen grin.

"Oh yeah… I remember now. Pretty much all of his moves were based on videogames, right?"

"Yup. Anyway, the movie is a satirical look at his career, and the name comes from the term his anti-fans gave to his eccentric way of speaking. It's been getting great reviews, which is kind of ironic since 'Toilet Boll's' movies were some of the worst reviewed ever!" Asuka let out a snicker, and Shinji joined.

"Sounds interesting." Shinji said, and glanced at the clock briefly.

"Hey, I think we better get ready. We've only got about 90 minutes before we're supposed to go meet Toji and Hikari, right?" He asked while getting up from his seat.

Asuka checked the time as well, and suddenly jumped to her feet.

"Ack! I need to get dressed!" She huffed with a flurry as she ran for her room, and then Shinji went to his.

Shinji's choice of clothes wasn't anything particularly elaborate, but it was still notably more upscale than what he'd normally wear. It was a basic pair of khaki pants and a blue silk shirt, with a dark gray suit jacket over top. Shinji had originally been hesitant about the jacket, but Asuka talked him into it and informed him that Hikari would make sure Toji wore one as well. He looked himself over in the mirror and smiled. _Eh, I still feel a little awkward, but if Asuka thinks it looks good, I'm happy with it._

Before he left his room, he made sure not to forget the gift that had remained safely hidden under his bed for two weeks, away from Asuka's prying eyes. He slipped the cardboard box out from under his bed, fished out the narrow gift-wrapped package, and dropped it into his coat's inner pocket. He then returned to the living room with a pleased smile.

He looked up at the clock again. _Hmm… Why do girls always take so long?_ He wondered as he began tapping his foot. After a few minutes, he decided to make a quick stop at the bathroom and run some gel through his hair. Usually he'd just pull his hair away from his forehead, but tonight he felt like putting in a little more effort.

"Gott im Himmel! What's with these zippers!" Asuka fumed from behind her door, followed by another string of curses in mixed languages. Shinji decided that his hair looked good enough, and headed back to the living room to wait on the couch.

A minute or two later, he heard Asuka's door open, and she strolled elegantly into view… And it took every muscle in Shinji's jaw to keep it from going slack.

"Tada! What do you think Shin-chan?" She asked, and it took Shinji a moment to respond.

She looked stunning. It was a beautiful dark red dress, with a low-cut top that in showed a decent amount of cleavage, and left Asuka's back and much of her shoulders bare save for where the fabric tied together to form straps. Also, her silky hair was completely undone and flowing freely.

"Wow… I feel like I should be in a tux." Shinji mumbled as he grasped for something clever sounding to say.

"Hey, it's not like we're going as a couple! But still, you don't look so bad yourself." Asuka giggled, and nudged Shinji's shoulder with her fist.

Shinji decided now was as good a time as any to finally give Asuka the gift that he'd been waiting for two weeks to see on her.

"There is one thing that's missing though…" Shinji said as he reached into his coat.

Asuka's face lit up when she saw the package before her. Shinji only had to place it in her hand before she had torn away the paper and was opening the velvety case. When she saw what was inside, she placed a hand over her chest and took a step back.

"This is… Beautiful." She said softly.

It was a thin golden chain with a string of two red gems dangling from the middle, and she instantly knew that she loved it. She carefully removed it from the case, and her mind instantly thought of a perfect 'thank you' for a gift like this…

"Would you mind fastening it for me?" she smiled as she raised the two ends near her shoulders.

Shinji nodded shyly and stepped behind her. He gently brushed away Asuka's silky-soft strawberry hair with one hand, then took the two ends of the chain and clipped them together. He let the red strands glide back into place over Asuka's back, and they tickled his hands as he moved them away. _Wow, twice in one week I've gotten to feel her hair… I must be doing something right…_ He grinned inwardly.

Asuka turned around to face Shinji, and let him see the necklace displayed on her. It complimented her neckline perfectly, with the chain resting near her collarbone, and the string of gems being _just_ high enough that they didn't draw too much attention to her cleavage.

"Thank you Shinji, this is one of the nicest gifts I've gotten in a long time." She smiled, and then wrapped her arms around Shinji to pull him in for a hug. She then broke the friendly embrace, and turned her head over to Misato's office.

"Misato, we're gonna go out now!" she called. Misato's office door slid open, then the woman's arm reached out and began to wave in a stopping gesture.

"Hang on a sec, I wanna get a look at you two first!" she called, and came rushing out to give her two charges a once-over, who noticed that she had brought her digital camera.

She had dreamy eyes and a smile on her face when she looked them over, and couldn't help but let out a proud sigh.

"Look at you two, you look so grown up! I almost wanna give you a squeeze!" Clearly the 'almost' was a lie, as Misato wrapped her arms around the shoulders of her kids and gave them a tight, playful embrace.

"Gah! Misato!" they shouted in unison, and Misato gave out a teasing laugh.

"Now let me take a picture of you two!" she said, and then Shinji and Asuka stood side by side, putting on picture smiles. "Come on now, you can try to look a little friendlier than this! Asuka, put your arm around Shinji!"

"No!" Asuka objected, and Shinji made a failed attempt not to look embarrassed.

"Come on, it's not like you've never hugged Shinji before." Misato said while rolling her eyes.

Asuka realized that she didn't have an excuse to avoid touching Shinji, since in truth she enjoyed it. Until now Asuka had avoided leaving a photographic record of their touchy-feely friendship, but when she gave it a second thought, she didn't really see the harm in one photograph. Also, it was fairly apparent that Misato wouldn't stop bugging her until she got the pose she wanted. She reached around Shinji's back and wrapped her fingers around his elbow in a friendly manner, and gave the camera a _genuine_ smile.

"Now that's more like it." Misato approved, and then snapped the shot. "So, do you have your cell-phones?"

The two teens nodded, and Asuka picked up and dangled her handbag to indicate the location of hers.

"Okay then! Remember, call me when you get to the theater and leave, then make sure to call ever hour after that, got it?" Misato said in a serious tone.

"Yes ma'am!" Shinji blurted, and Misato laughed.

"I'm not your CO! But thank you anyways." She smiled. "So do you want a ride to the train station?"

"Nah, we can walk." Said Asuka.

"Well then have fun. I'll see you at 10."

Misato waved goodbye as the pair of teens left the house. It didn't take long for Shinji's jacket to start bothering him though—especially since the house hadn't offered much relief lately with it's broken air conditioner.

"Dang, it's hot out here! Do I have to wear this jacket all night?" he asked.

"They'll have air conditioning on the train, but I guess you can just carry it for now."

Shinji sighed with relief as he slid the jacket off and slung it over his shoulder.

* * *

As Shinji and Asuka approached the movie theater, they saw Hikari and Toji sitting on a bench holding hands. Hikari was wearing the famous 'little black dress' that Shinji had heard so much about, and tonight actually chose let her shoulder-length brunette hair free for once, which coupled with the dress made her look much more lady-like and feminine than usual. Toji was wearing gray button up shirt and a pair of black slacks, which had a matching jacket that like Shinji, he only held due to the heat. 

They were giggling silly nonsense to each other while their fingers interlocked, when Hikari noticed Shinji and Asuka coming, and got up to greet them.

"Asuka! Happy birthday!" she said as she embraced her friend, and they kissed each other's cheeks.

"Hikari!" Asuka squealed, and they stepped back to examine each other's outfits. "You look beautiful tonight, I love your dress!"

"Thank you." A flattered Hikari said. "I love yours too. You look like a movie star!"

"Thanks! Maybe if I see a red carpet, I'll sign some autographs." Joked Asuka. Hikari's eyes then traveled to Asuka's neck, and noticed that she was wearing the necklace she'd helped Shinji select two weeks prior.

"Hey, that's a lovely necklace. Is it new?" She asked, already knowing full well where it came from.

"Yup, it was a gift from my little Shinji-kun." Asuka said as she grabbed Shinji, who at the time was pre-occupied with greeting Toji, by the arm and pulled him in for a playful hug from behind.

_Wow… Did she just hug Shinji in public? Maybe this will be easier than I thought…_ Hikari hopefully considered in silence.

"Oh, hello Hikari." Shinji said as he turned his neck, with an embarrassed tint on his cheeks.

"Now, who's ready for some serious Boll busting action?" Asuka asked with a goofy look on her face, and then realized that her Japanese-speaking friends weren't going to get it. "Eh, let's just go get our seats."

The rest of the group agreed, and within minutes they'd claimed their tickets and were seated in the auditorium, waiting for the film to start.

----------------------------------------------------

Rippling waves of light danced around the bathroom walls as a plethora candles reflected from the water in the tub, but the display failed to keep Misato's attention. While she very much enjoyed candlelight bathing whenever she could do it, tonight it just didn't seem to be doing the trick. The soothing combination of warm water, scented crystals, dimmed lights, and soft music wasn't helping much to distract her from the fact that she was bored.

She sighed as she glanced over at the clock, and noted that it was quarter after seven, meaning she should be expecting a call from Shinji in about fifteen minutes. _Well, at least I don't have to bother with my clothes for another three hours, unless the kids come home early._ She smirked as she sipped her beer.

'The kids' were growing up, and like it or not, Misato was going to have to get used to not having them around as much. Even though she'd managed to spend eight years of her life mostly alone, she'd grown very attached to her unconventional family unit ever since it had formed. Not being able to walk around the house naked whenever she wanted was a tiny price to pay compared to what she'd gained from their friendship and company.

It was hard for Misato to believe that she'd been soaking for little more than an hour, which was surely a testament to her current predicament. She felt almost helpless as she lay there watching the seconds tick by, and began thinking about what kind of fun Shinji and Asuka were probably having without her.

Someone above must have been listening to her cries for something to occupy her mind, for at that moment the phone began to ring. Misato perked up, and reached over the side of the tub to exchange her beer can for the phone.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Ah, good evening Misato!" a familiar young man's voice answered from the other end.

"Makoto! It's good to hear from you!" Misato chimed at the sound of her former subordinate as she re-positioned herself in the bath.

"Um, are you busy right now? Because I can call back later if…" Makoto started to ask nervously. He had probably heard the music and splashing water, which would likely be putting some awkward ideas into his head.

"No, it's fine. Please, go ahead!" she stated reassuringly.

"Uh… You like cars, right?" Makoto inquired.

"I'm crazy about them!" proclaimed Misato excitedly.

"Well, tonight there's this classic auto show in the city that I was planning on going to, and I was wondering if maybe…"

Misato's heart skipped a beat, but then sank when she remembered that she wanted to be home when Shinji and Asuka returned.

"I—I'd love to go with you, but the kids are out for Asuka's birthday, and…" Misato began to explain disappointedly.

"It's okay, I understand…" Makoto said with an empathetic, but let down tone.

Misato bit her lip tensely for a moment, as her mind thought things over. On the one hand, she had the new house rules to enforce, and if she wasn't home it could set a bad precedent. But on the other hand… If she couldn't trust Shinji and Asuka to come home on time without her as a witness, how would they ever get used to respecting her authority in her absence? If she could still trust them to go out alone, why couldn't she trust them to be alone _in their own house?_ And it wasn't like she wasn't going to be checking up on them… Her mind ran over both sides of the argument as quickly as she could, because she didn't want to leave Makoto hanging for too long.

Misato really needed to get out of the house for a while, and hanging out with Makoto was exactly the kind of diversion she'd been wanting—especially if checking out sweet cars was involved. And really, why should she be the only one staying home on a Friday night? Finally, she made her decision.

"Ah, it's not a problem. Where do you want to meet?" she asked.

"The New Yokohama Public Exhibition Center." Makoto spoke with renewed zest. "Is quarter of eight okay with you?"

"Sure! I'll just put some clothes on and then I'll head over!" Misato noticed that there might have been a better way to phrase that, because even over the phone she could tell that Makoto was blushing.

"Uh-- yeah. See you there, Misato-san." He stammered before the call ended, and Misato let out a girly giggle as she splashed in the water playfully.

_Hehe, I didn't even know Makoto was into cars. Who knows, maybe tonight we can get to know each other a little better?_ Misato wondered as she rose from the bath, allowing the water to run off her curvaceous body before blowing out the arrangement of candles around her.

She stepped out of the tub and pulled out the stopper, then grabbed the phone and her beer. She then slung a towel around her neck, but didn't bother covering up since she had the house all to herself. As she walked out the bathroom door, a smile played on her face when she saw the family pet sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Pen-Pen, Mommy's going out for a few hours, okay?" The penguin merely responded by raising a flipper, and so the nude woman headed toward her bedroom to get dressed and wait for Shinji's call.

* * *

Laugher… That's what could be heard from the quartet of Shinji, Asuka, Hikari, and Toji as they left the uptown movie theater. 

The film was every bit as hilarious as Asuka had claimed it would be, and Shinji was glad she'd picked it instead of a forgettable chick movie. Shinji thought the movie felt kind of sleazy, and since Uwe Boll was hardly a model example of the German people, he was almost afraid to laugh with Asuka around… If not for her cackling voice filling the auditorium almost every time Boll spoke a line, which Shinji interpreted as 'Go ahead, it's funny!'

"Hahahah! 'Vhy can't you just take ze stupid bra off?'" Asuka quoted with her best impression of a male voice, to which her friends laughed.

"'No, ve don't _need_ to do anozer take! It's not like ze dump audience vill notice!'" Toji paraphrased, and the laughter continued.

They walked to the curb, where Shinji pulled out his phone and hit his home number on speed dial.

"Hi Shinji-chan!" Misato greeted over the line.

"Hi Misato. We just got out of the theater, and we're heading for the restaurant."

"Okay! And Shinji, I'm going out and probably won't be back until late tonight, so I want you to call me from home as soon as you're back, okay?" the boy's guardian informed him.

"Okay, I'll make sure we don't forget."

"And remember, my phone has caller ID, so don't try anything sneaky like calling from your cell!" Misato half-jokingly warned.

"Don't worry. We'll be home by 10, and once we are we're staying there."

"Good boy! Make sure to give Asuka a birthday kiss for me, okay?" Misato teased, and hung up before Shinji could get in another word.

"What was that all about?" Asuka asked.

"Misato went out and says she'll be back late. She wants us to call her when we get home, nothing big." Shinji explained, and Asuka simply shrugged her shoulders.

"So, should we hail a cab?" Hikari asked as she straightened out her dress.

"Yeah, I could sure go for some grub!" Asuka grinned while rubbing her stomach.

Shinji waved his arm at an approaching taxi, and soon they were on their way.

* * *

After they had paid the driver and stepped out of the cab, Asuka looked up at the restaurant before them. The large illuminated sign above read _'Cucina del Giardino'_ in bold Romanji letters, with the Katakana version below it. 

"'Kitchen of the Garden.' That's what the name means." Asuka proudly translated, much to the admiration of her friends.

There was a multi-sense aura that permeated from the building, and along with the strong smells of garlic, meat, and melting cheeses, Asuka could hear what sounded like live music coming from somewhere within, which made her wonder if the establishment's seating area was outdoors.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go in." Toji said as he took Hikari by the hand.

When they walked through the front doors a hostess behind the reception desk greeted them.

"Good evening! Do you have a reservation?" the young woman asked.

"Yes, it's under "Horaki"." Hikari told her.

The hostess thumbed through the clipboard before coming to Hikari's surname.

"Ah, here we are; table for four at seven forty-five." The woman said with a smile. "Please follow me."

The hostess led the four of them into the main dining area, where Asuka and Shinji were taken aback by the amazing layout. There was no roof overhead, giving it a great view of the round moon in the sky, along with the tall, illuminated buildings of New Yokohama. The place was designed to re-create the feeling of being at an outdoor restaurant in Italy with many beautiful plants decorating the place, just as the 'garden' in the name implied. There was also a large opening in the middle of the building that had a fountain in the center, and around it was the group of musicians Asuka had heard before, playing classical slow music. The rest of the open area was used as a dance floor for patrons.

The hostess seated them at their candle-lit table with Shinji next to Asuka and Hikari next to Toji, and then took orders for their beverages before handing out a set of menus.

"A waitress will be here with your drinks in a few minutes, so until then you can decide on your entrees, okay?" said the hostess, and then she left.

"So… I didn't know that this place had live entertainment." Shinji said with obvious interest, seeing as he was a classical music enthusiast. "I actually have this song on one of my SDAT tapes."

Asuka's eyes glanced around the room some more, and as she took in the ambiance and looked around at the other patrons, she noticed that they were mostly couples consisting of college students and people around Misato's age. It was no wonder, because there was something almost—_romantic_ about the place.

_Wait a minute, just what is happening here?_ Asuka's mind wondered, but before it could continue, she saw a menu tilted towards her by Shinji.

"I don't really know a lot about Italian food. What do you suggest?" Shinji asked her.

"Go with the veal parmigiana; it's delicious, and you need the protein. Besides, it comes with Ziti." Asuka said as she pointed at the menu. "Hmm, I think I'll get that too."

"Okay, if you say so." Shinji shrugged. The price was kind of expensive, but fortunately Hikari and Toji had agreed with him ahead of time that they'd be splitting the check three ways.

A waitress came to their area holding a platter with drinks, and then placed them on the table before them. She then took out a palm pilot and stylus and prepared for the orders.

"Good evening, my name is Miko! What can I get for you tonight?" she asked.

"We'll both have the veal parmigiana." Asuka stated while motioning at Shinji.

"The lasagna with Italian sausage." Said Toji.

"Shrimp scampi." Hikari finally requested, and then the waitress collected the menus from them.

"Your entrees should be ready in about half an hour, so you can feel free to use the dance floor." Miko told them before leaving. Toji looked to his side at Hikari, and gave her a charming grin as he stood from his seat.

"So Hikari, would you give me the honor of this dance?" he asked her earnestly, to which she smiled back and stood from her seat.

"Of course." she replied as she got up. Then, Asuka's thought train from before started moving again.

"Hang on a second… Hikari, can I have a word with you first?" Asuka asked bluntly.

"Um… Okay. I'll be right back, Toji." Hikari said as Asuka led her away from the table. Once they were at a reasonable distance, Asuka looked her in the eye as if she was going to start an interrogation.

"Okay, what's going on? Why did you bring us here?" she questioned.

"What? I thought you would like this place." Hikari asked with false disappointment in her voice, and Asuka had to think a moment before speaking again.

"Well, I do. It's really nice, but…"

"But what?"

"I didn't know this was a 'date place'."

Hikari blinked momentarily, but did not loose her composure.

"Well what were you expecting? Some boring place with beige carpets and a bunch of bald business men?"

Asuka didn't really have a response.

"Look, I'm not trying to embarrass you at all. It's not like someone is going to make you dance with Shinji, so just try to enjoy yourself." Hikari said with a hand on Asuka's shoulder.

"Yeah… Sorry if I overreacted. Now you and Toji go and have some fun."

Hikari smiled with a nod, and then went back to Toji who led her down to the dance floor by the arm. Asuka just slumped back into her seat next to Shinji.

"What was that?" Shinji aksed.

"Nothing, I was just clearing something up." Asuka drolly answered.

They sat there for a few minutes just watching the couples dancing, and the few attempts made at a conversation didn't really seem to materialize. Asuka's eyes kept going to Toji and Hikari on the dance floor, and they looked like they were really enjoying themselves—or each other, to be more exact. Asuka couldn't help but feel like her and Shinji were being left out, and was finally unable resist asking the question.

"Do you want to dance?"

"Huh?"

"Baka." Asuka said angrily and turned her face away. Shinji's mind finally went into second gear, and realized what just happened.

"Wait, I do!" he blurted in an attempt at recovery, and then Asuka looked at him again with a pleased smile.

"Great! Let's go!" She said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards to dance floor.

When they reached the floor, they joined hands and began moving to the music. However unlike last time they'd danced, Asuka wasn't feeling quite as adventurous, mostly since they weren't surrounded by a bunch of adrenaline-fueled teenagers and loud techno. She chose to keep some distance between them, but it was an enjoyable experience none-the-less, even if it wasn't quite the same as before.

"I really like the music here." Shinji commented, trying to strike up some small talk.

"Yeah, I guess it's okay. I've never been that into classical though." Asuka shrugged in semi-agreement.

"Why is that?"

"I guess I just didn't listen to it much when I was growing up, so I never really acquired a taste for it."

"Well, maybe sometime you should try listening to more? I've got a lot of songs that I think you would like."

"Yeah, maybe… But I don't understand why you don't ditch that crummy tape player and get an iPod or something."

"What's wrong with my SDAT?"

"It's ancient, that's what! For a music buff, you don't seem to care much about sound quality." Asuka scoffed.

"Well then how about this… I'll consider getting a new music player if you agree to listen to some classical music with me, okay?" Shinji grinned.

"Yeah, I guess that's a fair enough deal." Asuka approved.

As Asuka looked around the dance floor, she couldn't help but notice how close everyone looked. They all looked so intimate, and Hikari and Toji looked like they were completely lost in each other's embrace. The most contact Asuka and Shinji had however, aside from their joined hands was Shinji's palm on her shoulder. Asuka sighed a little bit as she looked into Shinji's eyes.

"You know Shinji… We _could_ dance a little closer, if you want—everyone else is." She suggested with a hopeful smile.

"That'd be… Nice." Shinji said as he nervously smiled back. They stepped a little closer to each other as Asuka led Shinji's hand to her back, and Shinji blushed a little when he felt Asuka's bare skin come into contact with his palm and fingers. She slowly led the hand down until Shinji could feel the she curve of her back, when Asuka stopped.

"That's as far as you go tonight." she snickered playfully as she released his hand, then moved hers to Shinji's other shoulder. She leaned in a little more so that the sides of their faces were closer together, and felt pleased with the Shinji's reaction as she could sense him tensing, then relaxing as he adjusted to the close proximity. Soon, they were moving as one, holding each other closely like the other couples did.

Meanwhile, Hikari peeked over at them from over Toji's shoulder, and then smiled as she admired the fruits of her labor.

_Dang, I'm good_. She thought.

End chapter

* * *

Author's notes: 

Again, I'm sorry if this chapter feels a little incomplete, but I didn't feel right releasing a single chapter that was 10,000 words long! Don't worry; chapter 10 will be up as soon as I'm done re-reading and editing it, since the writing is already done for the most part. On the bright side, splitting this chapter ensures that you won't have to wait long for the next one! After the next chapter is up, I'll only have one left to write, and then I'll be calling this a wrap.

Please send your reviews, thanks for reading, and God bless!


	10. Unwrapped

I don't own Evangelion, so nyeh-nyeh.

Well, I'm finally posting the rest of Chapter 9! Remember, this is not the last chapter as was originally planned, since I ended up breaking chapter 9 into two parts. This chapter will be a lot shorter than Chapter 9, but I hope you'll excuse it, since I also needed a bit more time to polish things up and re-write the parts I wasn't quite satisfied with. Now please, enjoy!

* * *

Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Chapter 10 – Unwrapped

A little kid in a candy store; that's how Misato felt as she gazed at all of the gorgeously restored and maintained classic cars surrounding her and Makoto inside the exhibition center. She hadn't been to an auto show in years, and the sensation now was almost overwhelming.

"Hey, check out the engine on this puppy." Misato said as she gazed at a '68 Mustang, which had a large chrome air vent and exhaust pipes protruding from the hood. "So shiny…" She joked as made a trance-like face.

"Yeah, too bad it's mostly for show. In a drag race I think the wind resistance would cancel out any advantage that thing would give." Makoto said with his arms crossed.

"Aw, but it looks so cool! I guess you have a point though." Misato frowned, and they went on to examine another couple muscle cars. Makoto had turned out to be quite a motor head, although his knowledge of cars was largley in the technical arena, whereas Misato's was more rooted in the historic aspects. It was making for some interesting conversations, since they were both able to benefit from the other's knowledge.

"So Misato, how have things been going with the kids? You mentioned something about Asuka's birthday when I called."

"Oh yeah, Shinji and their friends took her to see a movie and then dinner. I actually got a picture of them right before they left!"

Mistato pulled out her digital camera, and soon began clicking through the library on the LCD screen until she found the image. Shinji and Asuka were both dressed up for a night on the town with a slick suit and elegant red dress, respectively, and oddly enough Asuka actually had her arm around Shinji's back while was leaning against him.

"Wow, they sure have gotten friendlier. If I didn't know better, I'd think they were a couple…" Makoto said as he examined the photo.

"Hah. I actually had to put up a bit of a fight to convince Asuka to pose like that." Misato snickered.

"So, are you still trying to get them together?" Makoto asked.

"Yeah, they're still my little pet project, but tonight I've recruited some external help."

Makoto raised his eyebrow, unsure what she meant.

"You remember their friends, Hikari and Toji from the barbeque?" she asked, to which Makoto nodded. "Well, Hikari called me up about a week ago to ask me if I could help her find a romantic restaurant. Now I haven't been on a date in ages, but it wasn't hard to figure out what she was planning."

"So what did you tell her?"

"Well, first I told her that I didn't know what kinds of date locations New Yokohama has, but that I'd help her find one. And then, said I knew what she was up to, and that I was happy to help." Misato chuckled as she recalled the awkward conversation.

"So what place did you find?"

"Cucina del Giardino; it's an Italian place, and according to the website they have live music, dancing, and a retractable roof for a sky view."

"Ah, that's a classy one. Shigeru and Maya swear by it."

"Really? Well then I guess that it was a good choice." Misato smiled. "But if it works that well for those two, I hope I don't come home and find Asuka pregnant."

They both laughed mischievously at Misato's devious comment. Then suddenly, a shiny black sports car in the corner of convention hall caught Misato's attention, and her face lit up like a little girls' on Christmas morning.

"Ooh! Look at that one over there!" she exclaimed as she ran to the vehicle. Makoto merely scratched his head for a moment.

"It looks familiar, but I can't quite place it." He said.

"Aw come on, don't tell me you don't recognize it!"

"Well, it's an '82 Pontiac Trans AM…" Makoto began.

"And?"

"…And it's been customized…" Makoto said as he adjusted his glasses, and finally Misato gave up on her little guessing game.

"It's a replica of the Knight Rider car!" she blurted as she ran to the sleek machine, and pointed to the glowing red 'sensor grid' in front.

"Oh yeah, that's the one." Said Makoto as his memory came back.

"I've always wanted to see an '82 Trans AM up close, but I never would have expected to see one here, let alone one like this!" Misato joyously announced, and looked like she could almost burst with excitement.

"So, I take it you're a fan of the show?" Makoto asked teasingly.

"Guilty as charged." Misato answered meekly while putting her hands up, as if being arrested. "I watched the re-runs when I was a kid, and when Asuka moved in she brought all of her discs of it with her, so I got hooked again."

"Eh, it was okay I guess, but I was never really into it. Maybe I kind of missed that generation." He shrugged.

Misato looked around briefly, and made sure that no one was watching. She then took her digital camera and stuffed it in Makoto's hand, and then ducked under the picket line.

"Um, what are you doing?" Makoto asked tensely as he saw Misato pull down the top of her dress's zipper part way, revealing a good view of her impressive cleavage.

"Something I've dreamed of for years." Misato said wistfully, and draped herself across the car's hood like a model in a tuner magazine. "Now hurry up and take a picture!"

Makoto crouched so he'd be positioned at the ideal angle and swallowed hard, then snapped the shot.

"Okay, now get off of there before someone sees you!" he exclaimed in a panic.

Misato just giggled as she slid off of the car while running her hand over it, before ducking under the picket line again.

"Seeya later, Kitt." She joked as she waved goodbye to the Pontiac, and then zipped her dress back up to avoid embarrassing Makoto any further.

"Weren't you at all worried about getting us kicked out?" Makoto asked.

"Yes, but it was worth it for the souvenir picture, wasn't it?" Misato laughed as she looked at the photo on her camera's screen, and Makoto simply sighed while lowering his head. "Hey, if we never took chances, life would be pretty boring."

Makoto let out a chuckle and raised his head again.

"That's what I like about you Misato. You're not afraid of taking risks to get what you want."

Misato recognized this personal compliment, and gave Makoto a warm look.

"Well, from what I can tell, you aren't either." She said with a smile, and Makoto's cheeks reddened profusely. As they strolled to another display, Misato made a glance at Makoto's bright, brown eyes, and put her hand on her chin.

"You know Makoto, you have really nice eyes. It's a shame that you're always covering them up with those thick glasses."

The flustered Makoto did what he could to say something intelligent.

"Maybe I should get contacts sometime …" he muttered out while scratching his head.

"Yeah, you should." Misato said before giggling again, and the two continued their journey through the sea of cars.

* * *

Shinji opened the front door to the Katsuragi household with Asuka right behind him, and let out a gleeful laugh as he went over the night's activities with her. He was relieved that they'd made Misato's curfew on time, and with a whole three minutes to spare. 

"Well, I'm glad to see your appetite had increased. The look on Hikari's face when she saw Shinji 'eats like a bird' Ikari wolf down an entire plate of veal and _still_ have room for a whole slice of cheesecake was priceless!" Asuka amusingly recalled.

"I think I'm finally starting to understand what you meant when you were talking about needing more food when you exercise. A month ago, there's no way I'd come home from a meal like that without a doggy bag." Shinji said cheerfully, and they made their way into the living room. "Well, I guess we'll check in with Misato now."

He picked up the phone and called her, and then after a quick exchange of words said goodbye and hung up. Asuka had a somewhat annoyed look about her, and was fanning her face. Shinji could feel it too, and quickly removed his jacket.

"Man, when the heck is Misato going to fix that stupid AC? It's like a steam room in here!" Asuka complained. "Maybe I'll go get some wooden benches and lava rocks so we can just sit around in our bath towels." She joked sarcastically.

"Hey, at least you're wearing an evening dress. Try wearing a suit jacket in here!" Shinji remarked, however he certainly didn't mind the idea of spending the rest of the evening with a sweaty, towel-clad Asuka in a makeshift sauna.

_Or better yet, skip the towels… Gah! Not while she's right in front of you, baka!_ He shouted at himself silently before the fantasy got out of control. 

"So, what now?" he asked.

Asuka's eyes went over to the TV, and she grinned.

"I feel trouncing you at the game Misato got me." She said while giving her knuckles a good cracking. Shinji simply rolled his eyes.

"Only because it's your birthday." He sighed. Asuka giggled excitedly and ran to the videogame console under the TV, and started turning everything on. She then plopped down on the couch next to Shinji, and handed him one of wireless controllers from a basket on the coffee table.

_"Mortal Kombat!"_ A voice shouted from the screen as the words 'MK: Obliteration' appeared in Romanji, and soon Asuka was flipping through menus to get to the versus mode. Shinji was glad she was handling the menus, because it was an imported game and all of the text was in English, which Shinji was not yet very proficient with. The player select screen appeared, and soon Asuka had chosen a beefy looking blue ninja, while Shinji fiddled around a little before finding a beast-like character with red eyes and silver claws.

_"Round one, fight!"_ Shinji instantly began hammering away at the attack buttons trying to pull off a decent combo, but was clearly not much of a match for Asuka's experience. In all fairness he did put up a decent fight, but it wasn't long before his character's head had been separated from it's neck, and a shower of frozen limbs rained down upon Asuka's fighter. 

_"Sub-Zero wins! Fatality!"_ The announcer growled, and Shinji made a frown.

"Yes! Who's number one?" Asuka asked rhetorically while doing a small victory dance with her arms.

"That character is totally cheap!" Shinji said irately. "Mortal Kombat is proof that Americans can't make a balanced fighting game to save their grandmas."

Asuka's brow twitched.

"Is that so?" She asked blankly with annoyance lacing her voice, and then Shinji made the connection.

_Uh-oh. I forgot that she's half American, didn't I?_ He scolded himself mentally. 

"Looks like I'll just have to prove that you're wrong, and are just plain an in-experienced _noob_, by beating you with all fifty characters!" Asuka said with a bright smile, and Shinji's face went blank.

Over an hour later, Shinji was completely burnt out, and his thumbs were numb from his relentless button mashing. But he knew Asuka wasn't done yet... Finally, Asuka's last character performed a fatality, and sent the remains of Shinji's warrior splattering on the screen with a gooey red mess. Asuka's face darted in Shinji's direction as he sank into his seat, and gave him a devious grin.

"Say it." She demanded, and Shinji mumbled something that in Asuka's opinion wasn't nearly loud enough to be satisfying. "Say it _louder!_" she then tackled him, pinning his shoulders to the couch.

"Americans make good fighting games. I just suck at them." He said, trying to sound as sincere as possible, but couldn't help but groan in defeat as he rubbed his eyes. "Can I go to bed now?" He asked.

"Sure." Asuka nodded. Shinji placed his controller on the table before getting up, and then turned to the hallway. "Hey baka, aren't you forgetting something?" Asuka asked.

"What?" Shinji wondered, a little confused. Asuka just rolled her eyes, stood up, and pointed to her check.

"It's warm, wet, and it goes here."

Shinji's heart jumped and his body felt stiff, but he wouldn't dare deny Asuka now that she'd requested it. He sheepishly made his way over and moved his face towards Asuka's, then very cautiously moved his lips to her cheek. He finally made contact, and started to plant a friendly, but extremely careful kiss…

…When Asuka suddenly gave him a playful roughhouse squeeze with her arms, and momentarily lifted his feet an inch or two from the floor. Shinji almost jumped out of his skin, and Asuka fell back onto the couch laughing hysterically once she'd released him.

"Hehehe, pervert." She snickered as her laughter subsided.

"You're nuts, you know that?" Shinji said dizzily while trying to unwind from Asuka's teasing.

"I'll probably watch Conan for a few minutes before I crash, but I'll try to be quiet." Asuka said as she reached for the TV remote. "Goodnight, Shinji. And thank you so much for tonight." She playfully fiddled with the gemmed chain around her neck as she spoke. "And I love the necklace."

"Goodnight Asuka. And happy birthday."

They both sent each other one last friendly smile, and then Shinji went to his room.

* * *

Shinji groaned as he stared over at his clock. It was almost twelve fifteen, meaning he'd been rolling around awake for about an hour. The heat had been making sleep almost impossible, and for a while now Shinji could feel a thin film of sweat coating his entire body. He'd already ditched his pajamas and was down to just his shorts, and he was using nothing but a sheet to cover him—but the warm air and humidity were still nagging at him, making sure he'd be awake well into the night. A cold shower sounded appealing at the moment, but he didn't want to bother Asuka, especially after the evening had gone so smoothly. 

_You know what'd feel _really_ good right now?_ A suggestion presented itself, but Shinji quickly brushed it aside as being a stupid, reckless, and potentially embarrassing idea.

But after another ten minutes, the idea had just kept coming back to nag him. It was becoming too difficult to resist, either because tonight he was feeling adventurous, or because he was too hot and too sweaty. He reached his hand up to his forehead to wipe some of the sweat from it, and finally gave in.

_Fine, I'll give it a try. God, what am I doing?_ He asked himself as he reached for his robe and put it on, and then slid his bedroom window open. He climbed out and landed softly on the grass outside, then looked over in the direction of the lake. Trying to be as silent and invisible as possible, he quickly snuck down the path to the beach.

When he got there, he glanced around skittishly to make sure that no one could possibly be around. He shed his robe onto the sand, and for a second almost chickened out.

_I already came this far— can't run away now. _He told himself, and finally, his shorts dropped to the ground.

Even though the moon was almost full, therefore allowing him to see clearly, he kept reminding himself that it would be nearly impossible for someone to catch him—it was the best way he could think of to not lose the nerve.

The part of the beach Misato owned was very secluded, and the other houses were all too far away for anyone potential neighbors to notice… Asuka was inside either sleeping like a baby or laughing at the jokes of her other favorite redhead… And knowing Misato, she wouldn't be home for another hour at the earliest… Not that he expected anyone else to be crazy enough to come down here this late.

But even so, it felt strange being naked outside, and if this had been two months ago, he never would have even considered doing it. But he felt more confident now-- maybe because Asuka had beaten some confidence into him through their lessons, or perhaps because he no longer felt like a scrawny twig when his clothes were off. His muscles were hardly the stuff of a weight lifter, but they were still noticeably more toned and than he remembered them being before the lessons had begun. He had a modest swimmer's body, and he felt it suited him well.

He waded into the water and was a little surprised when it was slightly cooler than he expected, but it was a massive relief after the heat he'd been trying to sleep through. Soon he was in deep enough that he could float comfortably.

_Hmm… It feels sort of like a bath, I guess._

He was soon performing his various swimming techniques rather comfortably-- so comfortable in fact, that he'd actually been a fair distance from the shore without noticing for a while.

_Wow…I must be pretty good by now if I can get that far this easily._ He congratulated himself silently. Then, his eyes wandered to the island—the place that had been the goal of his swimming lessons and exercises from the very beginning, and tonight seemed barely more than half as distant as it did from the shore.

_It's really not that far away at all, is it? Heck, I'll bet I could go over there right now if I wanted to._

And on that thought, he had to ask himself—_Well, why don't you?_

He grinned. While he was still very fond of the idea of going there with Asuka by his side, he figured that there was nothing wrong with checking out the territory a little bit before hand. And besides that, Asuka would probably be proud to know he now liked the water enough to swim on his own—although he'd make sure to leave out the part about being naked, if the conversation should occur.

He began stroking his way forward, determined to prove what he was capable of. It wasn't nearly as difficult as he'd originally expected, which boosted his confidence all the more. Within only a few minutes, he had reached his destination.

It seemed bigger up close than it looked from the land, but this didn't really surprise him. As he swam around the left side of the island, he saw a comfortable looking rock sticking out of the water, so he quietly swam over and pulled himself up to use it as a seat, a little surprised at how the smooth stone felt beneath him. He felt amazingly proud of his achievement, and technically he hadn't broken his silent promise to go there with Asuka, since he didn't actually set foot on the land.

But as the water cleared from his head, he heard something— It was almost like bells on the air, but he knew it couldn't be anything other than a singing female voice. Shinji didn't understand the language, but he knew the song—it was an oldie that he'd liked, but couldn't remember the name of. At this point however, that was the least of his concerns…

The only thing that mattered right now was that he was completely nude, and there was someone else around—and probably a girl for that matter. He quickly covered himself with his hands while his eyes moved to find the source of the voice. Then, he found it to his right, only a few yards away-- and strangely enough, at that moment he remembered what the song was.

Fly Me to the Moon.

Sitting restfully on a smooth stone, much like the one Shinji was using, was a beautiful young woman, gazing innocently at the moon above as it's light made her skin shimmer—She looked like a Siren luring in a shipwrecked sailor, the sultry music flowing from her lips further cemented this impression—a And Shinji instantly knew who she was.

_Asuka? What the—what's she—where are her clothes?_

Yes, it was true… Shinji was the sole witness while the great Asuka Langley Sohryu sang a classic of Sinatra, wearing nothing but the skin she was born in. Her feet were idly dipping in and out of the water while she sang as she gently rocked her head and shoulders back and forth, causing her wet hair to sway slowly behind her back—And Shinji found himself helpless against the urge to visually explore.

First, there were her long, lusty legs, which Shinji had been familiar with for a long time now—and fortunately for the veins inside his nose, Asuka had them close enough together that she wasn't fully exposed. As his eyes moved up, he took in the sight of her silky, strong thighs, and then her tight, sexy stomach near her slender waist… Finally, he came to her perfect, firm breasts.

She looked like a goddess, and Shinji was almost certain he'd go blind any second now—which at the moment, seemed like a very small price to pay for what he was seeing.

_She's… Amazing._

He was soon aware that the way he was staring would almost certainly fall under the category of ogling, but he couldn't help it. It was true that Shinji had already seen most of Asuka during their time at NERV; particularly, the ridiculous tests that required all three pilots naked, during one of which he'd gotten a glimpse of her rear while they were walking through the clean room... But that was completely by accident-- or at least that's what he'd always told himself. Then, there was also the 'mishap' when Shinji visited her in the hospital, not to mention the revealing swimsuits she'd worn as long as Shinji had known her… But this was the first time Shinji had ever seen it all at once, and there was also the fact that she had 'matured' noticeably since their NERV days.

The way Asuka sang was beautiful. Shinji had never even known that she sang before tonight, and wouldn't have guessed she had such an amazing voice. The way she articulated the words sounded so heartfelt, and so sincere… Not to mention far more accurate to the actual lyrics than Shinji could even hope to perform.

When Asuka's song came to its finish, Shinji knew better than to wait for an encore. But what was he supposed to do now? Escaping in silence would be almost impossible, as well as incredibly low seeing as he'd already helped himself to an eyeful of her body… But in the short run, the action he ended up taking could have been considered attempted suicide.

His mouth slid open, and despite his last second effort to stop it, his voice escaped.

"Asuka?"

Asuka's eyes instantly bolted over to Shinji, and began observing him rapidly with shock written all over her face—particularly when her gaze came to his lap, and noticed how 'happy' he was to see her—and Shinji then remembered that he was naked too, and had clearly forgotten about covering himself long ago.

"_What the hölle are you doing here?"_ she screamed in a pitch that would wake the dead. She covered her bare breasts defensively with her arms, and pulled her knees in close before letting out another ear-shattering wail while trying to hide her embarrassed face.

It did not take long for Shinji to take a hint, as a look of horror came over his own face. He simply let himself fall over into the lake with a splash, and started swimming as fast as he could, once again thankful that the water was cool. And even though he had only taken up swimming less than two months ago, he was already wondering how well he'd fare at the tryouts for Japan's Olympic swim team. From what he could tell, it'd taken him less than half the time to swim to shore than it did for him to get to the island in the first place.

He finally reached beach and after stumbling through the sand, grabbed for his shorts and robe, not even attempting to put them on as he ran for the house. He climbed into his window as fast as he could before he could let something else embarrassing happen, and dropped his belongings to the floor before falling onto his bed. He quickly wrapped the sheet around himself, and it clung tightly to his still-damp skin. His heart was pounding, and he could still feel the pulse beating in his ears for minutes after he was tucked in.

It was ironic that Shinji had gone swimming in hopes to make sleep come easier, but now, it was even more difficult. It was like every time his eyes closed, he would see Asuka staring back at him, causing him to shiver all over. He changed positions several times, and finally found himself drifting to sleep. But when the dreams came, he knew that he'd be doing laundry the next day.

_I _still_ manage screw everything up, don't I?_ He moped pitifully into his pillow as he rolled over, still un-able to fathom what had happened.

_End chapter_

* * *

Author's notes: 

Well, ten down, one to go! And before I submit this chapter, I'd like to address some potential technical questions some people might be asking. First of all, Asuka's father was in fact an American, with her mother being an un-specified mix of German and Japanese. Also, it's worth noting that in 2009 Conan O'Brien is slated to replace Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show, and so I'm going under the assumption that Second Impact would not have affected that decision.

So, looks like I can take me a break for now. Next week I've got a load of free time, so I'll hopefully be writing Chapter 11 soon!

Thanks for reading, please keep sending your reviews, keep an eye out for the last chapter, and God bless!


	11. Those three words

Please don't sue me! When I said I owned Evangelion, I was joking! 

Thank you for the reviews, once again! And welcome to the final chapter of my story! This has obviously been a long time coming, and I really hope it satisfies all of my loyal readers! I wrote this story because I liked it, but all of you are the reason why I kept with it! The last fan fiction I wrote and completed, I think, was probably when I was 12 years old. It was based on Sonic the Hedgehog, and it was total garbage. I'm talking self-inserts, script format, awful grammar, not-funny humor, and pretty much EVERYTHING that can possibly go wrong in a fic. To write something that people are actually enjoying feels very satisfying for me, and I'm glad that I can add something to the Evangelion fan community—particularly those who are Shinji/Asuka fans. :)

This is technically the last chapter of the story, and I do know that there will be some loose ends that some people might be a little bugged by. But, I do have a little announcement to make at the end.

Now… END OF STORY OR BUST

* * *

Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Chapter 11 – Those three words

Asuka buried her face in her pillow and let out a frustrated scream, which was silenced by the stuffing and fabric. She couldn't really understand what it was that she was feeling, but she knew that it was making her angry. And when Asuka was angry, bad things tended to happen.

"Why… Why does everything have to be so complicated? It's all that dummkopf's fault!" She sobbed into the pillow, letting it muffle her so that the sound wouldn't be heard. It was now Sunday, meaning it had been roughly two days since the 'accident' on her birthday night, and yet her raging emotions were still showing no signs of calming. However, a knocking sound on her door managed to pull her from her moping.

"Asuka, lunch is ready!" Misato called.

"I'm not hungry!" Asuka barked. In truth, she hadn't eaten all day, since she had skipped breakfast in order to avoid the awkwardness of sitting across from Shinji again. But even though she was hungry, she didn't feel like eating, and since Shinji had run off to Toji's place shortly after breakfast was over, she wasn't really in the mood for one of Misato's 'adventurous' recipes.

"Don't worry, it's Chinese takeout. Even I can't screw that up."

Asuka was a little relieved at that revelation, but she still didn't want to pull herself from her self-imposed prison.

"I don't need anything." She lied grumpily, however her stomach clearly had a different opinion. And luckily for it, Misato was not going to give up as easily as Asuka wanted.

"You get that cute little ass of yours out here _now!_" Misato shouted angrily.

"Just leave me alone!"

"No! Now open the door or I'm getting my tools!"

Misato and Asuka seldom had arguments. Usually, they got along quite well, but on the rare occasion that they butted heads, it was strongly advised that all bystanders flee for safety. While technically this situation fell more into the category of simple disobedience followed by an immature reprimand, both Misato and Asuka were very good at being stubborn, loud, and aggressive, so the safety protocols would still apply. And this time, they didn't even have Shinji to moderate.

"Yeah right!"

"Okay, better yet, forget the tools! I'll just _break_ _it down_, and you can try living without it for a few days!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Asuka squeaked.

"You bet I would! I know this thing has a few weak spots!" announced Misato, who then proceeded to send a few kicks into the wooden door. At first Asuka knew she was only testing, but when the thumps began getting louder, she began to worry—after all, Misato _did_ have a black-belt, which according to Shinji she had made use of rather effectively when NERV was invaded by the JSSDF.

Asuka let out another frustrated scream, this time without the pillow to quiet it.

"Fine!" she stormed over to the door and unlocked it, then swung it open to find Misato standing eye-to-eye in front of her. Since they were the same height now, Misato did not have as much physical authority over her as she once did, but the face she wore was that of the hardened battle officer that she was—However, Asuka countered it with the evil glare that she'd perfected over the years, so it was more or less a standoff.

"I got us chow mien and spring rolls." Misato said cooly, finally breaking the silence. Asuka simply nodded, and followed her roommate to the kitchen.

Once Asuka was seated, Misato scooped out a helping of chow mien and rice before plopping it onto Asuka's plate, along with a spring roll. Asuka then started stirring and picking at it with her chopsticks, but she wasn't actually eating it. Her attention went to Misato who had gone to the fridge, and was soon heading back to the table with two beers in hand.

"Geez! It's barely lunch time and you're going to have _two?"_ Asuka admonished.

"Nope. The second one is for you." Misato said as she slid it across the table, and Asuka just looked down, staring at it with a confused look on her face.

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Normally, this would be where I start laughing. But not today, since you're going to need it in a minute."

Asuka knew that could only mean one thing—A _serious_ conversation, and some questions that she probably wasn't going to want to answer. But being the proud German she was, Asuka wouldn't turn down Misato's offer of a cold brew, even if she was under-age by Japanese standards. Besides, what was the worst that could happen from just one beer, in her own home while her guardian was right there watching?

_She'll lower your defenses and make you talk about something embarrassing, that's what!_ She frowned as she lowered her head onto the table, and stared depressingly at the aluminum can in front of her.

Misato by now was already eating her food and sipping away at her own beverage, so Asuka finally decided to give in and endure whatever 'big sister' conversation Misato was planning. She popped the top on the can and took a swig, wincing at first from the somewhat bitter flavor. She may have been German, but she still had only drank beer a few times in her life, and hadn't really acquired a taste for it. Once she'd eaten some chow mien though, it didn't seem so bad.

Misato looked at Asuka thoughtfully as she finally found her appetite, and was actually eating the food before her at a healthy pace.

"Asuka… I'm worried about you and Shinji." The older woman said.

"What did I do now?" Asuka snapped defensively before taking another sip of beer.

"I've noticed that you've been—avoiding each other."

Asuka's eyes widened slightly, which sent the signal to Misato that she was onto something, but Asuka simply took another bite of her spring roll to avoid answering.

"You two didn't work out today, or yesterday."

"So what? It's not like there's much left for me to teach him anyway."

Misato let out a sigh, realizing that she'd obviously struck a chord.

"Why should that matter? I thought you exercise together because you enjoy it?"

Asuka went silent again.

"And how come at dinner last night, you two spent the entire meal avoiding eye-contact with each other? Have you even _talked_ to him since Friday?"

The color of Asuka's face began to go red. Either the beer was kicking in, or Misato had her backed into a corner… Or both. Either way, Misato took this as a sign that it was time to drop the bomb.

"Asuka, Friday night before I came home, did you two…" she paused for a moment, un-sure of how to word the next part without embarrassing Asuka too much. "…Do something that would make me regret leaving you alone?"

Asuka looked at Misato strangely, not quite sure what she was getting at.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… Are you still virgins?"

Asuka dropped her chopsticks, and her eyes went wide as dinner plates.

"Wha—What?" she exclaimed as she jerked backwards.

"When I came home that night, your bedroom door was locked, and I heard you sniffling something about Shinji. And when I went to check on him, he was only wearing a sheet, and kept calling for you in his sleep…"

"Wha—How do you know he didn't have underwear on?" Asuka hissed.

"He didn't exactly do a good job covering his butt."

"Gah!" Asuka yelped in panic.

"Asuka, it's okay. Whatever happened, I won't hold it against you. If that was your decision, I promise to support you both as much as I possibly can." Misato said in a calm, reassuring voice.

"It's—It's not like that at all!" Asuka shrieked as she threw her hands over her red face, and Misato looked confused.

"Then why don't _you_ tell me what happened? Because I know _something_ happened that neither of you wants to talk about, and it ended with at least _one_ of my roommates in their birthday suit."

Asuka knew it would be awkward, but Misato knowing the truth at this point seemed far less embarrassing than having her chastity called into doubt. She sighed heavily after taking another swig of her beer, and was finally ready to talk.

"We—we sort of caught each other skinny-dipping…" Asuka said with her forehead on the table.

Misato just sat there and blinked, expecting to hear more.

"I was relaxing on a rock near the Island, and then all the sudden Shinji was on the one next to me, and—" The color of Asuka's face deepened. "He was 'happy' to see me. I screamed, then he got scared and swam away."

"That's all?" Misato asked, still expecting to hear more, and Asuka simply nodded. Then, much to Asuka's dissatisfaction, Misato started laughing.

"What's are you laughing about?" Asuka huffed angrily

"I just didn't know you included the more 'kinky' German customs in Shinji's swimming lessons." Misato teased.

"You're talking like I'm some kind of exhibitionist!" Asuka gasped as if insulted. "Yes, there _were_ girls in Germany who were into nude beaches, but I actually had the _dignity_ to say _no_ whenever they invited me! I _only_ bathe outdoors when I have privacy!"

"Can't say I blame you. When I was in Germany, the one I went to had so many fat tourists that I kept my clothes on and went home." Misato said, and Asuka looked like she was about to explode. "That was a joke." Misato laughed, but Asuka's temper only cooled mildly. "However, I _am_ glad to know that you _do_ have some modesty."

"What does it matter now though? Shinji probably saw everything except where my legs were closed!" The redhead whimpered into her arms.

"Well, did you see all of _him_?" Misato asked, and the redhead gave a slightly hesitant nod. "So how was he, one to ten?" she smirked.

"Can you _please_ stop that?" Asuka said with an angry blush in her face.

"Believe me Asuka, you'll get over seeing Shinji naked. I've seen him in the buff too, and I didn't bat an eye."

"_What?_ What kind of guardian are you?" Asuka shrieked, and Misato just laughed.

"Relax, it's nothing worth worrying your pretty little head over." she said in a reassuring, but slightly teasing manner. "But don't tell me you never saw him in NERV's clean room."

"That was different! I had to make sure he wasn't peeking at me or Rei, what else was I supposed to do?" Asuka blurted, and then reddened profusely when she'd realized what she'd just admitted. Misato's mouth wrinkled in a semi-failed attempt to hold back another laugh.

"Look Asuka, you know Shinji is a gentleman, and it's not his fault that he's a _boy_ and finds you attractive, or that you two happened to have the urge to go skinny-dipping at the same time."

"Well, I guess he has gotten a lot more mature." Asuka stubbornly agreed.

"This isn't really about you thinking Shinji is a pervert, is it?" Misato asked, and after a moment, she got her answer.

"He was at the _island_, Misato! He went there _without_ me!" Asuka said as her eyes welled up.

Now, it was finally starting to click.

"You _really_ wanted to go there with him, didn't you?" Misato sympathetically asked.

"I—I guess I feel like he doesn't need me anymore." Asuka grieved as she wiped the moisture from her eyes.

"Well you're wrong, because he _does_ need you. What did you think would happen once he could swim on his own?"

"I—I'm not sure. I liked what we had going on these past two months, but things are so messed up now that I don't know what to do next."

"Look, if you feel this strongly about Shinji, then just _tell_ him!"

"But he might get scared away!"

"How can you say that, after all you two have been through together? Shinji is afraid that if he makes a move, you'll just call him a pervert and scream at him!" Misato scolded loudly.

Tears then began to run down Asuka's cheeks, and she started to cry. Misato moved her chair around to Asuka's side of the table, and pulled her in for a supportive hug.

"I'm sorry Asuka, I think that was a little too much." Misato gently spoke. "I mean, this entire month has been hard on you, but it just shows that you're growing up."

"But what you said is true. I'm a real bitch sometimes, aren't I?" Asuka said between sniffles.

"No you're not! You may know how to _act_ like one sometimes, but I know you're a good kid inside." Misato said as she stroked some of Asuka's red hair. "And I don't think it's fair that you should have to be the only hero here."

"What do you mean?"

"Shinji needs another 'big-sister talk', too."

"But he's hanging out with his stooges today, remember?"

Misato simply smiled, got up, and grabbed her car keys from the counter.

"Um, Misato, didn't you just have a beer?"

Misato just shrugged as she started heading out the door.

"I didn't drink the whole thing. You have my permission to finish it off if you want." Misato winked as she closed the door behind her, and Asuka simply slumped in her chair with a frown.

"If just one was enough to get me to say all that, I don't even want to know what I'm like when I'm hammered." She mumbled, although really, she knew that she was a still long way from being drunk.

_Maybe I really did want to sort out my thoughts with her, and I just needed an excuse?_ She sighed to herself as she ran a finger around the rim of her empty Yebisu can._ I should probably brush my teeth though. I don't want to smell like Misato when Shinji gets back.  
_

* * *

"R." Toji said as the basketball bounced off of the hoop rim, and Kensuke, the person who threw it, simply scowled. 

"Why are we playing Horse again? Everyone knows you're going to win." The otaku complained.

"Because watching you two fight for second place amuses me." The jock snickered. "Don't worry, I'll make this next one easy for you."

Toji stepped up to a few feet behind where the park basketball court's free-throw line was, and made a shot that looked like he could have done it with his eyes closed.

"Your shot Shin-man." Toji said as he tossed Shinji the ball.

Shinji took Toji's place and made his shot, and while the ball did circle the hoop briefly, it failed and slipped from the side. Shinji slumped his head in defeat.

"Ooh, 'E'! Looks like Shinji is a horse!" Kensuke laughed, and Shinji gave a depressed sigh as he tossed the ball to him. He then slumped over to a bench at the side of the court, and watched as Kensuke proceeded to earn the same title he'd just awarded Shinji.

"Looks like I win again." Toji said triumphantly. "And Shinji, since when did you get worse than Kensuke? Each round we played, you came in last place." Toji snickered.

"I don't know, I'm just kind of out of it today." Shinji muttered, although he would not tell his friends the real reason.

_And really, what _would_ I tell them? They're probably as clueless as I am, and aren't going to have anything useful to say. They'd just make a bunch of stupid sex jokes as soon as they hear the words 'Asuka' and 'naked'._

"Let's go another round." Toji suggested. "Shinji, you can take the first shot." Toji said as he tossed the ball towards Shinji, who caught it after it bounced.

"Nah, I'll just watch." Shinji sighed.

"What's the matter Shinji, are you feeling sick?" Kensuke asked.

"Yeah, it is kind of early for a fairly athletic guy like you to be tired." Toji added.

"No, I don't think I'm sick. I just—need some time to think." Shinji murmured.

As he spoke, Kensuke's eyes lit up as they stared excitedly at something behind Shinji.

"Well, you'd better think fast, because Katsuragi-san is headed this way." The otaku said as drool started collecting in his mouth, and soon Toji had joined in the admiration. Shinji looked over his shoulder, and saw that Misato was indeed walking towards them.

_So much for escaping…_ Shinji grumbled.

"Good afternoon, Katsuragi-San!" his friends said formally with a bow.

"Misato? What are you doing here?" Shinji asked.

"I'm here to pick you up." His guardian said firmly.

"But you said I didn't need to come home until four!"

"Change of plan. We need to talk." Misato said as she took her charge by the wrist. She led him to her Renault, and they both climbed in. Toji and Kensuke just stood still, oblivious to what might be going on in the Katsuragi house as the sports car sped away.

* * *

Misato kept relatively quiet during the trip, which to Shinji seemed odd since she said she wanted to talk. 

"Where are we going?" Shinji asked.

"Somewhere private." Misato said, and Shinji let out yet another sigh as he saw trees passing overhead. Soon, Misato turned onto a dirt road and found a small parking lot by a hiking trail. There was no one else parked there, so Shinji guessed that this was what Misato was looking for. "Ah, this place will do."

Once they were parked, they both stepped out of the car, and found a shady bench under a tree. Misato sat down, and motioned for Shinji to sit next to her. Shinji obviously wasn't going to initiate a conversation, so Misato took the task upon herself.

"So… I never got to ask you how things went on Friday." Misato said casually, and Shinji's eyes instantly went to his lap.

"Uh—It went good. I liked the food, and I got to dance with Asuka." He said, but Misato already knew that he was hardly telling everything.

"What about when you got home? Because I already coaxed out Asuka's side of the story."

Shinji then proceeded to spill the beans about the events of that evening, and finally got to the swimming 'misadventure', which he explained as honestly as he could.

"Well, your version doesn't sound much different from Asuka's, so I guess I'm satisfied." Misato said, but Shinji's head slumped, and he turned his eyes away from hers.

"I—I felt dirty about looking at Asuka like that." Shinji sighed. "I know I should have looked away as soon as I saw her, but I didn't."

"Shinji, it's okay. It just means that you were attracted. The reason you feel guilty is because you don't want to objectify her, which is a good thing." Misato tried to explain. "How long have you had feelings for Asuka?"

"Pretty much ever since she moved in."

"And why did you like her? Was it because she was pretty?"

"No. That certainly got my attention, but… I liked her because deep down, I knew we were a lot alike, even though we're different. I wanted to reach out and help her, and I thought she could help me too."

"Well, you clearly like her for the right reasons."

"But that doesn't mean what I did is okay, does it?"

"Well, that's kind of hard to say. I mean, you only _looked_, right?" Misato asked.

"Yeah…"

"Well then stop worrying. You liked what you saw, which is perfectly normal, but it's not like you spied on her. And at least you had the self-control not to—" Misato then stopped, not wanting to bring back Shinji's uncomfortable memories, but he still knew what she was getting at. "I mean, I think you're mature enough to handle it now."

Shinji felt a little better after hearing this, but his spirits weren't showing any signs of picking up.

"You know, Asuka was really disappointed that you went to the island without her." Misato sighed.

"Is _that_ what this is all about?" Shinji questioned.

"No, she _is_ PO'd that you saw the goods without her permission, but that wasn't really what she was _upset_ about."

"Why was it so important to her then?"

"Duh, she likes you!" Misato said as she rolled her eyes, and tapped her head with her two fingers. Shinji just looked at his lap in silence again. "Look, you two are going to have to talk about this at some point."

"What should I do?"

"Well, first you should apologize." After all the scoldings Misato had given Shinji over the years about his frequent, yet worthless apologies, he found it hard to believe Misato would suggest what she just did, but then she continued.

"You should apologize that you broke your promise. But it was _not_ your fault that you saw her naked, so don't even think of saying 'I'm sorry!' when she brings it up!" Misato instructed firmly. "Now, When are you going to talk to her?"

"Today."

Misato then smiled brightly, and wrapped an arm around Shinji.

"Remember, I'm behind you both one hundred percent, but you need to earn this on your own. You know what you need to do, but you're the one who has to do it."

Shinji nodded, and then they both got up to head back to the car.

"Misato… Why do you care so much about how things turn out with me and Asuka anyway?"

"Well… I was hoping to turn one of your rooms into a wine closet once you're sharing." Misato said naughtily, and Shinji almost fainted. Misato then laughed and nudged his shoulder to indicate that she was teasing. "It's because the two of you are the most important thing in my life. I love both of you, and I want to see you happy."

"I—I love you too, Misato." Shinji stammered.

Misato then stopped their walk, then smiled and embraced Shinji in the kind of warm hug that most people reserve for close family members… Which, blood related or not, they were.

"I wish you and my mother could have met each other. I think she'd like you." Shinji felt a little silly as he said this, but he was glad he had the courage to.

"Actually, we did."

"Oh yeah…" Shinji sighed sentimentally. "And she liked you a lot."

* * *

Asuka had been spending a half hour or so trying to figure out what she was going to say to Shinji. Somehow, at some point she gotten Pen-Pen to agree to play the boy's role for her, but he was not a particularly convincing fill in—particularly, since his only response, if any, was "wark." Still, having _someone_ to practice with was better than nothing at all. 

But her time had soon run out, and she heard Misato's Renault pulling into the driveway. She heard the card doors open and shut, and soon the front door of the house was open, with Misato standing in it. Once she was in, she stepped aside, and in walked Shinji, looking as shy as Asuka had ever seen him. In all fairness though, she looked just as timid herself.

"Hi." Shinji said, still a little wary of eye contact.

"Hey." Asuka shyly answered.

Misato knew that they weren't going to get very far with her in the room, and decided to remove the third wheel.

"Well, I'm going to take Pen-Pen to the groomer's, and I think I'll get my nails done while he's there. I'll be back in an hour or two." she said as she scooped up her feathery friend, and headed back to the door. "Both of you, please—Work this out." She pleaded, as she closed the door behind her.

After Misato drove away, the two teenagers sat across from each other in silence, still not conversing. After a few minutes though, they both decided it was time to talk. But it was at the same time, so they were both a little embarrassed at the awkwardness. However, Asuka insisted Shinji go first.

"Asuka, I—I'm sorry about Friday." Shinji said.

"You mean the mammary inspection you gave me?" Asuka asked sarcastically, and wanted to slap herself for it, especially after the bite of her words hit Shinji. "I—I shouldn't have said that." she glumly amended as she lowered her head.

"Well first of all, I—uh… I think we should work out some kind of system so that this doesn't happen again."

"And how's that supposed to work without you taking advantage of it?"

"I _won't_ take advantage of it!" Shinji groaned angrily. "I'm talking about something like, we mark down every other week on the calendar so that we both know which weeks to not go. That way we'll both have plenty of elbow room if one of us decides we want to."

"I guess that's reasonable enough…"

There was silence for another few minutes, and still, niether of the teens were willing to make eye contact. They both knew it wasn't going the way they wanted, but it was Shinji who decided to break the ice first.

"I know I should have had more respect for your privacy, but that's not what I wanted to apologize for."

"What then?" as Asuka asked, she looked up to meet Shinji's eyes for the first time all day. They were nervous eyes, and Shinji was clearly almost as unsure as she was.

"I—I'm sorry for going to the island without you. I just—when I was out on the water, I got overconfident, and I wasn't really thinking."

"Obviously. And I am disappointed in you." Asuka scowled.

"Asuka… It meant a lot to me, too."

"Of course it did, or you would have waited."

"No, that's not what I meant! When I went there, it was to see if I could. But I _wasn't_ actually going to touch the land." Shinji emotionally tried to explain.

"Why?" Asuka asked.

"The only reason I wanted to be_ on the island_ was because I'd be there with _you_."

Asuka's heart suddenly ached immensely.

"That's…" she began, and Shinji observed her carefully. "That's what I wanted too." She then looked Shinji straight in the eyes, and they both trembled… Asuka especially, since what she was about to ask was extremely hard. "Shinji, Do you…"

Her eyes seemed almost lost… They didn't seem like they knew where this was going, but Shinji could see a sparkle of hope in them.

"Do you… like me?"

Shinji did not blush at Asuka's question, but rather, he began to sweat.

"Like… Like isn't enough." He nervously swallowed, and gave his answer.

"Asuka, I—I love you."

Those three words… They had finally been spoken.

Asuka's eyes brightened, and she could tell that they were getting moist.

"I love you too."

Both of them remained silent for a moment, however there was definitely a conversation happening—it was just an unspoken one. The look of relieved happiness and confused wanting said more to each other in that moment than an entire book of Shakespeare's finest writing. Besides, Shinji wasn't that good with words, and he didn't suspect that would change now. It didn't really matter at the moment, either.

"Shinji, do you want to kiss me again?"

Both teens could have sworn on a stack of bibles that the temperature in the room had increased… And perhaps it had, but clearly not from external forces.

"Yes."

"Then come over here." Asuka said as she motioned for the couch cushion to her left.

Shinji got up and moved himself to the seat, and sat down.

"I've been wanting to ask you for so long…" Asuka said as a tear begin to roll down her face. "I promise I won't pinch your nose this time."

Both teens chuckled lightly, but Shinji could feel some wetness in his own eyes, and knew it wouldn't be long before he'd feel it on his cheeks, too... And to think, they hadn't even started yet.

After they scooted themselves in a little closer, both of their faces leaned in and tilted slightly to the right. Then, their lips joined, and puckered to get a good feel.

_This is amazing. I actually feel it this time._ Shinji's mind thought. _She's so warm, and her lips are like silk. Was she this soft last time I kissed her? I can't remember…_

The first kiss Shinji had ever experienced had been from Asuka. At the time, she claimed that it was out of boredom, which was a complete lie. She did enjoy what she felt, but because her pride at the time made her fear getting attached, she didn't want Shinji to enjoy it. So she pinched his nose and nearly suffocated him, while she helped herself to his warm, supple lips, letting him feel nothing in return. He was stiff as a corpse, and the failed encounter ended up coming back to hurt Asuka later.

But what a difference free breathing made…

_So what if his breathe tickles? I think I actually like it… And he's kissing me back this time!_ Asuka said to herself excitedly as their lips continued to mingle. _And he's still so soft… Even as a young man._

Shinji's second kiss had been from Misato. It was really more of a goodbye kiss than anything else, since Misato she had been mortally wounded, and was sending him to a battle that he would quite possibly lose… And at the time, he'd been too shocked to even think about it. However, he definitely liked her way of kissing much better than the first he'd tried.

But although there was a time when he harbored a mild crush for Misato, he always thought of her more as a mother, and now that Shinji was a little older, a sister as well. He didn't really _want_ that kind of kiss from Misato, even though it was the most effective way she knew of at the time to show him some genuine affection. The first kiss Asuka gave him may have been bad, but Shinji couldn't deny that she was the person he wanted it from.

Now for his third kiss… It was everything. It felt so pure, without any kind of ulterior motive or catch to it. And this time, they both knew there was actual _love_ behind it, which made it even better. Shinji wanted to more though, so he decided to employ some of the technique Misato taught him—Albeit, taken further.

He began to open his mouth, but continued the kissing action. Asuka complied quite readily, and her lips began to part as well. With their mouths slightly open and their lips still connected, Shinji started taste the tip of Asuka's tongue with his own, as they entered eachother's mouths. The inside of Asuka's tasted minty, like the toothpaste that her and Shinji used… She'd definitely brushed recently.

Asuka hadn't been planning to kiss Shinji, and actually chose to brush her teeth just because she didn't want to smell like beer when they were talking. But she was glad to be fully sober, since she knew it meant that what she felt right now was real. And as their tongues slid against each other, the mint flavor started to mix into Shinji's mouth.

They then parted, both gasping for air.

"That—I've never kissed anyone like that before." Asuka panted.

"Well it was good." A flustered Shinji huffed as he leaned back, and refilled his lungs with air.

"It was." Asuka said with a joyful smile.

Then, she tackled Shinji and pinned him to the couch. She began planting kisses all over Shinji's face, and he happily reciprocated as Asuka sat on his waist, with a leg to each side. Asuka had always been aggressive, and that characteristic most certainly applied here. And yet for all of her aggressiveness, she could still be every bit as gentle as Shinji wanted. There was one word he could think of to describe it: _exciting._

"Mm… Asuka…" he mumbled.

"Shinji…" Asuka gasped in-between kisses.

"We shouldn't let this go too far." Shinji groaned as their lips connected.

"We won't, it's only kissing. I'm just trying to make up for lost time."

Asuka gave Shinji one last passionate, open-mouthed kiss, and then slid to his side, leaving him sandwiched between her and the back of the couch. Asuka wrapped her arms around Shinji, and pulled him in for a close embrace, clutching his back so that he was pressed against her.

"I—I knew I needed tell you someday. I should've done it years ago, but my stupid egotism always stopped me, trying to make me think you weren't good enough. But now…" Asuka didn't even bother finding something else to say, and just let a kiss speak for her. "I'm so happy now that I'm finally open with you."

She squeezed Shinji so tightly that it was almost hard for him to breathe. But Shinji didn't care. He simply wrapped his arms around her, and held her affectionately.

"I didn't think I was good enough either. I wanted to hold you so badly, but I was too scared… I thought you were too out of my league to try." Shinji choked.

"That was partially my fault. I should have accepted who you were, and not been so hard on you."

"But if it weren't for you, maybe I wouldn't have wanted to grow a backbone."

Asuka squeezed Shinji tighter, and let out a sigh.

"We _both_ did stupid things that we ended up regretting. We were only kids back then, and even though we could have been together sooner, what matters is that were are _now._"

They stayed like that for another good fifteen minutes or so, both content merely with the warm touch of the other, with a few kisses scattered in between.

"Shinji, I didn't tell you, but…" Asuka began to whisper.

"But what?"

"This is everything I wanted to happen on the island… and more."

Shinji smiled warmly back at her.

"Well, maybe it's better that it happened here, fully clothed. I mean, what would Misato say?" They both let out a quiet laugh, and kissed again.

"Are you implying I'd let you past first base during out first make out session?" Asuka teased.

"No…" Shinji blushed. "And I wouldn't ask you to, either."

"That's okay Shinjikins." Asuka smiled as they snuggled in closer. "We're still young, and we'll have plenty of time for that when we're older."

Mr. Kaji had once said that to Asuka when she was fourteen, in the middle of one of her advances—And she'd nearly had a nervous breakdown when she heard it. It seemed almost ironic that here she was, three years older, in a similar position, with _herself_ reciting it to the boy that she loved. Irony might not have been the right term… Perhaps it was poetic justice.

_It would have been so easy for you to take advantage of my foolish impulses back then, wouldn't it Kaji? But now I think I know why you didn't, and it wasn't for your own sake. Thank you so much for being such a good man. I'm sure Shinji thanks you, too._

"So Asuka, are you my—I mean, am I your—"

Asuka leaned over and silenced Shinji's stuttering with another soft kiss on the lips.

"That's a yes." Asuka tenderly whispered. "You're mine now." She then giggled, and nuzzled Shinji's nose with her own.

"You know, I still haven't been to the island." Shinji sighed.

"So… You already want to make out again?" Asuka asked teasingly.

"More kissing sounds nice--" Shinji smiled "—but it's more about keeping my promise."

"Well then let's put on our swimsuits and go!"

Asuka stood up and turned to go to her room, when she was stopped by Shinji's voice.

"Umm, could you…wear the red one?" he asked nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck, and Asuka gave him a pleasant smile.

"Hey, I'm your girlfriend now, aren't I? But just remember that once it's on, it's _staying on._"She said mischievously with a wink, and Shinji bashfully grinned in agreement.

"_You're my girlfriend_… I'll have to get used to saying that." he sighed happily. "It sounds so good, I almost can't believe it."

* * *

A recently manicured Misato walked through the front door of her house with a shiny-clean Pen-Pen in her arms, and found the place empty. At first, she was terrified, but then she noticed a note taped to the TV. She picked it up, and quickly noticed that it was Asuka's handwriting. 

_Dear Misato, if Shinji and me aren't here, it's because we're still out swimming. And don't worry; we're not naked this time._

Misato noticed a crude sketch of a pair of swim trunks and a bikini on the side of the note, and chuckled a little before reading the rest.

_We have an announcement to make when we get back, but you probably already know what it is. I'm not going to write "thank-you", because Shinji and I both agreed that it'd mean more in person._

_We love you, and we'll be seeing you in a little bit._

_-Asuka_

_P.S.: I promise we aren't doing anything naughty.__  
_

Misato almost fell over after she'd finished reading.

_Did… Did Asuka really write this?_ She wondered in disbelief.

Misato went to her bedroom, and rummaged under her bed for a moment before pulling out a black box embellished with the NERV emblem.

"Ah, military-issue optic zoom binoculars. Being an officer definitely had its perks." She snickered, like a child re-discovering their favorite toy in the attic.

She went outside to the deck, and lifted the twin scopes to her eyes. She zoomed in on the beach, and saw a set of two footprints in the sand, as well as a pair of towels hanging from a tree.

"Hmm…" She hummed, intrigued.

She shifted her focus to the island off the shore, and then began to zoom in. At first, there wasn't much to see, but as the digital focus came in, she could clearly make out two swimsuit-clad bodies lying in the tall grass.

_Wait—what are they doing?_ She questioned as she zoomed in closer.

Shinji and Asuka had curled up together in the soft leaves, and had their arms wrapped around one another as they caressed each other's faces. Thankfully, they were both wearing swimsuits, even though it wasn't much. Then, they leaned in…

…and their lips connected.

It had been three years since Shinji and Asuka had met on the deck of the Over the Rainbow, and back then they were still trapped in the most awkward state between being a child and an adult. And while it's hard enough to handle unbridled sexual potency when you're still as immature as a child, it's even more stressful after experiencing a childhood trauma involving your mother, and then having the fate of the world forced into your hands as the pilot of an Evangelion.

And yet somehow, the two found each other. Misato knew she had a hand in it, but she had to wonder how big it really was… And the conclusion that she came to was that the love was probably there all along, and they just needed a nudge—or possibly, a kick through the door to embrace it.

It had been a long three years of mind games, denial, arguing, and so many other terrible things that Misato would rather forget about… But seeing the second and third, now as young adults embracing each other so lovingly… It filled Misato with a kind of pride she had never experience before, and the pain it took to get there probably made it even more satisfying.

"Best of luck, both of you." Misato said lovingly to her wards. "But it looks like I've got some new house rules to make." She thought slyly as she put down the binoculars.

The two former pilots had stopped running away… And finally, had run to each other instead.

* * *

The End

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Stay tuned for epilogue

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IT'S DONE! YAAAAAAAAAAAAY! But if you still want more, don't worry… I trust that you read that little snippet at the end about an epilogue? Because I have an announcement— 

PLANS FOR AN EPILOGUE ARE BACK ON!

It won't be the same epilogue I originally planned, because that one has more or less evolved into a full-blown story concept by now, which in the future I would like to write as an actual sequel to this one. The epilogue I have planned now is one that I had fairly recently, but I think it should be satisfying. I chose to end the story where I did, because the epilogue will be more of a sentimental look back and forward at Shinji and Asuka's relationship, and leave the door open for any future story I do. Expect it to have more WAFFy discussion. :)

I'm also considering removing the prologue chapter of this fic, and revising the beginning of the first chapter slightly. In retrospect, I don't think that the prologue was necessary, and I think it does a very poor job setting the mood for the rest of the fic. I wrote it while I was having a major Evangelion buzz, and since this was my first Eva fic, I felt like I couldn't have a post Third-Impact story without it, but now I think that I was probably wrong. If people really want it around though, then I can always put it back in as an omake. I don't like it anymore though, so once the epilogue chapter is up you can probably expect it to go bye-bye.

Well, that's a wrap! Thank you all so much for sticking with this fic, please send your reviews, and God bless everyone!


	12. Epilogue

_Not owning Evangelion… Not owning Evangelion…_

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Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Epilogue

Near the beach, where the sand had just begun to transition into grass, a hammock was suspended from two trees. It hadn't been there until about two weeks ago, when Asuka had informed Shinji of her desire to have one. Getting it set up had led to some initial frustrations, but once they'd gotten it to work the way it was supposed to, they were more than happy to have invested the time. And this evening in particular was one that made it easy appreciate the fruits that their labor had yielded.

The thing about hammocks is that when two people share one, the sides of the net tighten together, making personal space almost non-existent. For some people this means little, since to them their hammock is a place of solitude. But for a couple in love, it's the entire point. That was probably why Asuka wanted one in the first place, seing as she was sharing the cozy space between the woven ropes with Shinji that very moment.

Earlier that day they had both gone swimming, and what they currently wore were an obvious indication. However, since it was late August, the evening air was not quite as warm, so Shinji now wore a t-shirt in addition to his trunks, while Asuka opted for a loose, undone button-down shirt over her black one-piece.

They each had an ear bud from Shinji's SDAT in one ear, and the hammock slowly swayed as the music flowed through them. Not long after their initial declaration of love, Asuka had decided to take Shinji up on his offer to give her more exposure to classical music, and today it was a selection of songs by Johann Sebastian Bach. Asuka greatly enjoyed what she was hearing so far, and the fact that Bach was German didn't hurt.

"I can't believe that this is our last weekend before school starts." Asuka sighed. "It feels like summer just started."

"I know… This last month has been one of the happiest times in my whole life. But pretty soon it'll be too cold to go swimming anymore, and we'll be back in school shuffling papers again."

"Yeah, the temperature has been dipping a bit lately." Asuka said, reminded that her bare legs were still exposed to the cooling breeze.

Shinji noticed her rubbing the long silky limbs with her hands, and could tell that he was feeling a little chilly himself. He reached over the side of the hammock to pick up the blanket they'd brought, being careful not to flip the hammock over in the process. Shinji's auburn-haired love nodded in agreement, and so he then draped the soft woven cloth over them. Asuka smiled and let out pleasant sigh as she snuggled in close.

"On Monday, we'll be going to school as a couple for the first time." She reminded herself aloud.

"Yeah… Are you nervous?" Shinji asked her.

"Yeah, a little… I mean, I've never had a _real_ boyfriend before, and I don't know what people are going to think when they see us together."

"What do you mean? I'm the one who's got something to worry about. My locker's gonna be filled with death threats from your groupies." Shinji joked.

"No, that's not it." Asuka said with a slightly forced chuckle. "It's just that, we're so… different."

"How do you mean?"

"Well… People might think it's odd seeing a Japanese guy with a white girlfriend."

"Asuka, we're a man and a woman who love each other. That's enough for me, and if it's not for someone else, then I say screw 'em."

Asuka couldn't help but laugh a little from hearing Shinji talk this way.

"Since when did you get a spine?" she teased.

"It just… If those people could get past what they see, they'd know we're more alike than not. I've never liked getting judged." Shinji tried to explain.

"Well, whatever comes at us next, we'll be in it together." Asuka answered firmly.

After a short while, the song on the tape player changed, and Asuka instantly recognized the tune.

"Hey, I know this one!"

"It's Cello Suite No. 1." Shinji informed, hoping that Asuka would recognize its significance.

"Yeah, I remember now…" said Asuka as she closed her eyes.

"It's always been one of my favorites."

"Especially now I'll bet." Asuka mused. "And to think an educated girl like me could have gone so long without getting into music like this..." Asuka cooed happily.

"Yeah, it's kind of funny. I mean, you play the violin so beautifully, and yet you weren't into classical?"

Asuka simply shook her head, causing her hair to tickle Shinji's neck in a way that he liked. His hand slowely moved behind Asuka's head, and his fingers began to lightly run through the golden red strands. Asuka knew very well by now just how much Shinji loved to feel her hair, so she let out a contented purr of approval, and the boy continued.

"Maybe I really do have a thing for classical… After all, when I decided to kiss you for the first time, it was after I heard you play this song." Asuka recalled.

Asuka then placed her mouth over Shinji's, and they shared a tender, sentimental kiss. When their lips parted, Asuka brushed her nose against Shinji's neck affectionately.

"I haven't gotten to hear you play in a long time." the girl sighed wistfully.

"Well, I guess I can make time in my busy schedule to arrange a performance." Shinji teased. "Maybe we could even have a duet sometime."

"I'd like that."

The next few minutes passed in silence, with the only sounds being Shinji's music player and the lapping water of the lake.

"This is going to be our last year in high school, isn't it?" Asuka semi-rhetorically asked.

"Yup. I guess that means college next year, huh?"

"Have you thought any more about where you want to go?"

"Well, I found out about a nice place in Kyoto where I can probably get the art courses I want. But seeing as the UN is supposed to cover our tuition, I'm thinking I might also go to Kyoto University for my liberal arts."

"Actually, I was considering going there too. Isn't it your mom's alma mater?"

"Yeah, it is."

"So… Are youe hoping to find something there?"

Shinji's face suddenly turned a little shy, but feeling Asuka's warm touch made it easier for him to be open.

"Yeah. Even if it's just some dusty old photo somewhere. I feel like if I could just see her face, I'd at least be able to remember her better."

"Didn't you have any pictures of her?" Asuka asked, a little confused.

"Nope. My old man burned all of them."

It was becoming clear to Asuka that the more she found out about the former NERV commander, the less she liked him. But at the same time, it made her realize just how much Shinji needed her, and fekt compelled to gave him a caring squeeze.

"Well, if there's anything of her to be found, I'll be there to help you find it." She said reassuringly.

As the sun went down over the hills, Asuka's face met with Shinji's, and they shared one more passionate lip lock as the starts began to appear in the sky above. However, part of Shinji's mind began to nag him about something.

_You want to pop the question, don't you?_

He couldn't deny it was true. He knew nothing could make him happier than sharing the rest of his life with Asuka, but his inhibitions still managed to get the better of him. At the rate they were moving, it probably wouldn't be long before he actually asked, but it just felt too early to do it now.

_Besides, we're still minors, and I doubt Misato would give us permission. Looking at the new rules she came up with, I doubt she'd put up with trying to sleep down the hall while Asuka and me are… _He stopped, trying not to dwell too much on the thought. But still, it was hard not to imagine that Asuka could get pretty loud.

Little to his knowledge though, at the moment Asuka's mind was occupied with their future as well… And if Shinji had actually asked her then, her massive vocabulary which spanned three languages would probably have found itself missing a word for 'no'.

They were both certain that the time would come for it eventually, even if they weren't sure when. For now, all they would need was each other's love.

_Someday… Someday soon…_

_It's not the end__…__ It's the beginning of something beautiful._

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_Author's notes_

Well, there you have it. Short and (hopefully) sweet, which was the plan. To me, the ending was in chapter 11, and I see this as one last look at the story before I move on. I'm aware that there's more that can be told here, so I apologize if you were hoping for a little more. I hope you liked it though, and I bid you all a fond farewell... For now at least. Remember that sequel I'm hoping to do sometime?

Thank you for reading, please send your reviews, and God bless!


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